Scooby Doo Murder Mystery
by bubblelygirl
Summary: When the son of one of Mystery Inc's past villains comes back to get revenge on the gang, it may lead to the permanent end of the four teens and their dog when he has more than just petty revenge on his mind...
1. Chapter 1

Scooby Doo Murder Mystery

Part 1:

Norville "Shaggy" Rogers was sitting at the kitchen table ready with his normal midnight snack, a triple decker sub with everything possible you can imagine, like he did every night. He looked around trying to see through his light brown shaggy bangs-wonder where he got the name-looking for any sign of his great dane, Scooby Doo. He knows that Scooby is always looking for a chance to steal his favorite midnight snack, but not this time! Shaggy was on the watch and nothing could keep him from his favorite sandwich.

Shaggy lifted the concoction up to his lips ready for the two to meet, and then he suddenly felt something pulling at the opposite half of the sandwich. He quickly turned his head only to have his brown eyes spot the large dog standing beside him proudly wagging his tail with half of Shaggy's sandwich in his mouth.

"Like, Scoob, that's my sandwich!" Shaggy glared at the dog, but Scooby just threw the half of the sandwich in the air and caught it in his mouth swallowing the thing whole.

"Rorry, Rhaggy, hehehe," Scooby moved his paw up to his mouth and laughed at his owner and best friend.

"Like, if you're hungry Scoob then go make your own sandwich, like, my food is my food," Shaggy scolded the dog, but he didn't mean it. He could never be mad at Scooby. He steals his food all the time, but that's how the two are.

"Rorry, Rhaggy," Scooby knelt is head down and put his tail between his legs. All he wanted was part of the wonderful snack.

"Like, I'm just playin' Scoob. I'm not mad, like, my food is your food ol' buddy ol' pal," Shaggy smiled giving the dog a pat on the head. Scooby perked up and started to wag his tail.

"Rhanks, Rhaggy. I rove rou," Scooby said rubbing his head on Shaggy's leg.

"Like, I love ya too Scoob," Shaggy smiled at Scooby and turned back to his sandwich.

Shaggy lifted the sandwich up to his lips and took out a huge chunk of the thing. It was amazing! Probably the best he has made to this day, and he could feel the inside of him smiling. Shaggy has always enjoyed having his midnight snack and even though Scooby always manages to somehow sneak past his line of vision, Shaggy didn't care. He enjoys his dog's company, even if that meant losing half of his most prized sandwich every time.

"Like, Scoob, this is a good sand-" Shaggy turned to his dog, but what he saw made him gasp and drop the food out of his hands. He saw Scooby Doo laying on the clean white kitchen tile floor limp with his eyes rolled in the back of his head. Shaggy quickly sprang up out of his chair covering his mouth with his hand and leaned back against the breakfast table. His brown eyes began to shoot out hot tears and Shaggy tried to fight back but he didn't win. There was no way he could resist crying at a time like this, he was stupid for sitting there and trying to act strong when he knows it's impossible for anyone in this situation to achieve that battle win.

Shaggy walked over to the sprawled out Scooby Doo and he fell down onto his knees putting his hands on Scooby's side feeling for anything to go against his theory that he did not want to confirm. He felt around Scooby's chest feeling for any sign of movement…nothing. Tears fell out of Shaggy's eyes as he bent over by Scooby's mouth to feel for any air escaping the dog's mouth or nose…nothing. Shaggy couldn't take it anymore, he knew he had to except the fact but he didn't have the heart too, he couldn't give up his best friend.

"Like, Scoob ol' buddy?" Shaggy's voice was trembling and when he didn't receive an answer from the dog he knew that his pet and best friend Scooby Doo was dead.

Shaggy let out painful wails and he wrapped his arms around Scooby not wanting to let him go, not wanting to ever leave his best friend's side. Shaggy quickly reached for his cellphone that was nestled in the pocket of his dark brown bell-bottom jeans. He had to let his friends and fellow Mystery Inc. members know what had happened to their favorite crime solving great dane. He went into his text messaging and started a group message to let Fred, Daphne, and Velma know that he needed help and that the situation was bad.

**To: Fred, Daph, Velms**

**From: Shaggy**

**Like guys I need help! Please hurry! D:**

Shaggy pressed the send button and as he was watching the send bar move forward and forward to completion, he felt a sharp pain in his throat. He clasped his hands onto his neck causing him to drop his phone and he cried out in pain. He felt like someone was chocking him so hard and he felt completely defenseless to this imaginary attacker. He felt his body start to become limp and his breathing getting more and more staggered with each breath he took. He tried to push his back up off Scooby's but it was no use, it was like his arms had no muscles at all. Shaggy looked down at Scooby then back up at the food that was scattered all on the table from his quick drop and his brain put the pieces together of the situation. He knows enough from the movies he has watched that the symptoms he has and the connection with the sudden hit of pain and the food he was eating to know that there is only one answer. Poison. Shaggy realized that the food had been eating had been poisoned, and not from typical food poison, but some that someone had deliberately planted in his favorite object knowing that he couldn't resist a midnight snack…

Shaggy began to sob and he felt himself more and more begin to lose air. He knew how something like this ended and he knew that it would explain way his dog is now lying dead behind him. He knew he was going to die and he knew that he couldn't ever say goodbye to his friends who are soon going to find him dead next to Scooby. Shaggy then suddenly heard his phone play out the ringtone that lets him know he has a text message and he looked over at his phone seeing three urgent texts.

**To: Shaggster**

**From: Fred**

**Shaggy?! What happened?! I'm heading over right now! Answer me back quickly!**

**To: Shaggyyy**

**From: Daphne**

**Shaggy what's wrong? D: I'm going head over as soon as I can, hold on we're coming!**

**To: Shaggy3**

**From: Velma**

**SHAGGY! What happened and where is Scooby?! Don't worry I am on my way over to help!**

Shaggy reached for his phone but his arms wouldn't move an inch from his body. His face was soaking from all the tears that were still falling from his sad brown eyes. He so desperately wanted to let his friends know what is going to be of him but he doesn't have the strength to pick up his phone. He leaned back against Scooby and accepted that fact that his breath was very short, his body was no longer working and his eyes were slowly starting to flutter. 'Like, no not now, like let my friends get here before I die' Shaggy thought knowing in his heart though that his brain wouldn't listen to his pleas. His eyes became heavy to the point where he couldn't fight it back anymore and he bluntly spotted someone walking towards him with something metal and shiny before his eyes closed shut and he was dead.


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2

Velma Dinkley pulled into the Roger's driveway in her little red Honda Accord in frantic panic, her mind racing with the many worried thoughts about Shaggy and Scooby. She comes to an abrupt stop and jumps out of the car noticing she is the first to arrive but that was easily the last thing on her mind at the moment. She ran up to the tall front door and her body stiffened when she felt that the door was unlocked. She knows those two cowards well enough to know that they never leave the front door unlocked at night, especially when Shaggy's parents are out of town like they are now. With the door unlocked and the urgent text of help from Shaggy, she knows that what lies behind that door will not be good and that makes her whole body fill with fear.

Velma pushes herself through the entrance, carefully stepping inside not wanting to make a noise. She didn't know what to expect, but she did know that she didn't want to be detected until she found Shaggy and Scooby. Velma crossed over into the large dinning room/ front room area to the left of the staircase and through an archway opening in the distance she could see a light coming from the kitchen. Chills raced up her arms spotting the only light on in the quiet house.

"Shaggy? Scooby Doo?" Velma's voice was trembling. Something about this situation was different. She had been in haunted houses and faced more scary situations than this, but somehow this made her panic and scared more than anything.

She heard no response back and that almost made her heart drop. Shaggy and Scooby not yelling back for help after just sending an urgent message for help was never a good sign. Velma reluctantly entered the kitchen and her glass covered eyes saw what looked to be a half-eaten Shaggy sandwich on the kitchen table. This made her panic for she knew that there was no way those two would leave uneaten food just lying out like that. She had to think…what could have made Shaggy and Scooby stop their eating? She walked around the side of the large rectangular island and what she discovered made her clasp her hands on her mouth and let out a horrified gasp. Her dark brown eyes immediately produced tears at the sight of Scooby sprawled out on the tile floor and his lanky teenage owner lying with his back up against the dog.

"Sh…Shaggy? Scooby?" Velma's voice was filled with tears as she fell down onto her orange sock covered knees next to the dead Mystery Inc. members.

Velma fell down onto Shaggy's chest, folding her arms and letting out the water works fall from her eyes. The sleeves of her orange sweater were getting soaked but she didn't really care, all she could do was yell out 'No!' in between sobs. She couldn't believe Shaggy and Scooby were dead and that she would never once again be able to enjoy their company. Even though they were goofballs and they didn't seem to be the bravest in the world, they were still her best friends and she loved being around them…especially Shaggy. She felt that she and Shaggy had been developing this special bond lately that could have maybe lead somewhere, but it's impossible now. She loved him so much and she wish that she had been brave enough to tell him how she feels about him, but now she never will and the same on the other end, she will never get to know if Shaggy felt the same. She felt as if a piece of heart had been ripped out, a part that can never be repaired.

Daphne Blake was the next to arrive at Shaggy's house. She pulled into the driveway next to Velma's car in her own pearl white BMW convertible and quickly jumped out of her car running straight for the tall front door of the house. Daphne however, was not so concerned about the door being open as Velma was, she wasn't the first one to get to the house. She was more worried about the status of Shaggy and Scooby to notice that minor detail. Daphne pushed her way through the door and stopped at the staircase inside the dark house.

"Shaggy? Scooby? Velma?" Daphne called out hoping for a quick response. "Guys where are you?"

"D…Daphne…kitchen…Scooby…Shaggy…" Velma's voice was trembling and Daphne sensed some crying mixed in as well. Daphne stiffened up but allowed her feet to move her forward to the kitchen. She ran through the formal dinning/ great room area and through the archway into the kitchen. She could here Velma crying now and Daphne knew that it was bad. Velma is a strong person and it takes something truly horrible for her to shed a tear.

"Velma?" Daphne chocked on her breath saying the girl's name and made her way around the island of the Roger's kitchen. Her hands flew up to her lips when her dark blue eyes locked on the dead Shaggy and Scooby Doo on the floor and Velma with her head buried in Shaggy's loose green shirt. Daphne's eyes wallowed up in tears and she moved over to the short brunette girl who was balling her eyes out. She knelt down beside Velma and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. Velma looked up at her red-head best friend, her eyes red and puffy behind her glasses from crying.

"Daphne…he's dead…both of them…are dead." Velma chocked out the sentence and Daphne lowered head letting her long hair fall in her face. Velma bounced off of Shaggy and straight onto Daphne. Daphne accepted the hug and let her tears fall into Velma's bobbed brunette hair.

"I…I can't believe they are…dead," Daphne cried into Velma's hair.

"I can't ether!" Velma cried, her voice shaking. "I just walked in here to see what was wrong and found them dead on the floor. I couldn't let myself believe it…why would someone want to kill Shaggy and Scooby?!"

Daphne's mind wondered the exact same question. Shaggy and Scooby were fun loving guys who never did anything to anybody. Shaggy was a great friend to her and she cant grasp onto to the fact that he was gone. He and Scooby have been through so many things that the other two Mystery Inc. members haven't. She remembers all the times that Velma and Fred had been away and Shaggy and Scooby would still want to go with her to solve mysteries to keep the gang going. Though they appeared to be cowards, Daphne could always see that they love solving mysteries even when the ghost would always chase them away. She also remembers all the times she was kidnapped that most of the time Shaggy and Scooby would be the ones to find her and how brave they acted when they did. Daphne can't imagine what it would be like now without those two around anymore.

Fred Jones was the last to arrive at the Roger's house. He pulled in next to Daphne and Velma's cars in his blue Audi A8 and came to a stop. Fred jumped out of his car and ran through the front door not even thinking twice about them being open and just like Daphne, stopped when he was in front of the staircase.

"Daphne! Velma! Shag! Scoob!" the blonde called out wanting to know if his friends were okay.

Fred listened for a reply but heard nothing. Just as he was about to call back for them, Fred's ears picked up a sound coming from the direction of the formal dining room and kitchen area. He quickly made his way in that direction and as he got closer he could hear the sound more clearly…crying? It sounded like girls crying to his ears. Fred now ran to the archway separating the two rooms and from around the island he saw Daphne and Velma sitting on the floor looking horrible. Fred was about to ask what was wrong but before he could he looked down and saw the two goofy members of Mystery Inc. dead on the tile. He was speechless and he didn't know what to think, all he could do was let a lone tear fall out of his bright blue eyes.

Daphne looked up from Velma and when she saw the blonde leader standing behind them, she jumped up and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. Fred embraced the red head back and began to stroke her hair. Daphne buried her head in Fred's shoulder and could already feel the part of his sweater getting wet. Fred looked up at Velma and he saw that she looked horrible with her tear stained face. Velma looked away from him and turned back to face Shaggy and Scooby. She couldn't look at Fred and Daphne, knowing that her one chance of that kind of comfort was lying dead on the floor next to his mystery solving dog and best friend. She began crying again and she didn't care that her sweater sleeves were getting soaked even more.

Fred watched as Velma fell back down onto Shaggy and he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. From what Daphne had told him of what she heard from Velma, there was something going on between the two and so he figures that Velma has been hit the hardest. He would miss Shaggy too though no doubt in his mind. Shaggy wasn't really the sport loving type that Fred usually gravitated toward, but they a different kind of friendship that was very special to Fred. He would always remember how much fun they had when it was just him, Shaggy, and Scooby having a guy's day to just hang out and not do anything. Their friendship was something special and Fred found it hard to believe that he would never get to experience those special moments ever again. Fred tried to be strong in front of the girl who was in his arms, but that still doesn't mean that the tears stopped coming against his will…

"Fred, what are we going to do?" Daphne looked up at him, her blue eyes now a puffy red.

"We can't do anything Daphne! They are dead! We can't just bring them back! They are gone…" Velma yelled still crying.

"Velma…" Daphne let go of Fred and knelt back down beside Velma, wrapping her arm around her.

"I think we should call the police, we need to get this reported," Fred said looking down at the girls.

"You are right…we need the police down here quickly," Daphne agreed sniffing back tears.

"I'll go get my phone from the car and call 911," Fred turned around to head outside.

"Ok Freddie," Daphne said then looked back down at her saddened best friend. Velma was still shedding tears, but it wasn't as hard anymore.

"Velma, do you want me to get you anything?" Daphne leaned her head down to look at Velma. Velma looked up at Daphne, lifting her glasses and wiped away tears from her brown eyes.

"Yeah could you get me a glass of water Daph?"

"Sure sweetie," Daphne said getting up heading to one of the cupboards.

Velma's eyes followed Daphne for a few seconds then they focused back onto Shaggy. She carefully looked at the lanky teenage boy and tears began to fall again. She looked at how he was sprawled out across Scooby but when her eyes saw his left arm, she had to check herself at what she was seeing. She looked more closely, them gasped when her brain confirmed what she was looking at. Velma quickly pulled out her phone and snapped a photo of Shaggy's arm, knowing she would need to show this to Fred and Daphne very soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3

"I'm so sorry for your loss kids. I will make sure we do our best to catch whoever did this to your friend," detective Monica Winters told the three saddened Mystery Inc. members.

"Thank you Miss Winters," Fred said shaking the woman's hand. "We really appreciate it."

"All in a day's work kids," Monica smiled then began to head back to the crowd of police officers who were surrounding where Shaggy's and Scooby's bodies used to lie.

"Wait, Miss Winters?" Velma called out.

"Yes dear?" Monica turned around to look at Velma.

"Do you know how they were killed?" Velma asked with desperate eyes.

"No, I'm afraid not. We can't tell just by looking at the bodies but as soon as we get the results from the autopsy I will call you."

"Oh…thanks," Velma was disheartened.

Monica tried her best to smile at the girl but as soon as her face could no longer be seen, her lips formed into a frown. She always hated this part of the job, not being able to help out the loved ones to the fullest. Especially this time since they are just kids…teens who just lost a really good friend of theirs. She has heard of these teens as well, the famous mystery solving group Mystery Inc. Not only losing one of your own, but also not being able to do anything about a new mystery such as this one must be killing them inside. Monica knows she has to do all she can to bring this killer to justice.

Velma, Daphne, and Fred all stood outside in the Roger's driveway grieving and trying to fight back more tears. They didn't know what to do or what to think for that matter. They have never had to deal with this kind of situation before and now with the brains of the group the most hurt and depressed of the three, for the first time ever Mystery Inc. is at a standstill.

"What are we going do?" Daphne asked, her arms wrapped tightly around herself.

"There's nothing we can do Daphne…" Velma murmured sniffing from crying.

"Velma's right…even if we wanted to do something we couldn't because Shaggy's house is a crime scene and we can't go back in. It's in the police's hands now," Fred said looking at Daphne.

"I guess you have a point," Daphne sighed disappointed.

"Well I think we should start heading home for the night. It is been a long one," Fred said breaking the ice.

"Probably a good idea," Daphne agreed.

"Hey Daphne?" Velma sniffed.

"Yeah Velma?"

"Could, you maybe, come stay with me tonight?"

"Of course Velms, no problem," Daphne said giving her friend a comforting hug, which Velma gladly accepted.

"Alright girls, well let's meet at Velma's house tomorrow then and talk about what we want to do then," Fred told the two girls of Mystery Inc.

"Okay Freddie, we will see you tomorrow," Daphne smiled at the blonde as best she could and he sadly smiled back at her.

"Come on Velma, let's go," Daphne began leading Velma to her car, holding onto her crying brunette friend the whole way across the driveway.

She carefully placed Velma in her convertible's passenger seat then walked around to the driver's side, tears falling out of her blue eyes. Fred walked up to the red head, blocking her from stepping into her car. Daphne looked up at him waiting for an answer as to why he wasn't letting her into her car.

"Wait, Daph," Fred said looking at her.

"What is it, Freddie?" Daphne asked looking into his blue eyes.

"I…um…well," Fred lifted his hand up to her tear stained cheek, stroking it softly with his thumb.

"Yes?" Daphne urged him to continue, putting her hand on top of his.

"Um…I just…want you to take good care of Velma alright?" Wow good job Fred… "We will figure out what happened, I promise."

"I really hope so," Daphne threw herself onto the Mystery Inc. leader wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Fred wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, wanting to never let her go. He never likes to see her in pain like this…

Velma turned her head to look out the driver's side window to the left, spotting Fred and Daphne. She couldn't stand to look at them for very long without her glasses becoming foggy with tears. All could see was herself and Shaggy, with the lanky teen holding tightly onto her orange sweater. Oh how she longed for that scene to have come true. She could feel his breathing as she lay her head on his chest and his almost boney hand petting her short brunette hair. Seeing her friends outside holding each other like that tore her heart out knowing that her protector was no longer living in her own world. Velma curled up in her seat and laid her head on her knees.

"Hey Velms," Velma sprang up at the sound of her name and saw Daphne climbing into the car looking at her.

"Hi Daph. What was Fred telling you out there?"

"Oh he was just telling me to take care of you and that he promised that we will figure out what happened to Shaggy and Scooby," Daphne told her friend, then took her hand smiling at Velma. "Which we will Velma, we will find out who killed them."

"You better be right," Velma took her hand out of Daphne's and looked out the window. Daphne sighed but started the car and began to head out towards Velma's house.

Fred watched as Daphne drove out of the long driveway with Velma slumped in the passenger's seat. He felt sorry for Velma, he truly did, he couldn't imagine how she must be feeling about losing Shaggy…all so sudden and never getting to tell him how she felt. What if he ever lost Daphne like that? With no warning just found her dead like Shaggy and Scooby? And what if _he _never got to tell her how he feels…that would break his heart. He could only imagine what Velma was going through right now and quite frankly he really didn't want to.

Fred climbed into his car and backed out of the Roger's driveway, turning in the direction of his house. He knew he had to solve the mystery of his friend's murder, not leave it in the hands of the police. It would take too long and this one was personal. One of his own, well Mystery Inc.'s own, has been deliberately murdered for some reason unbeknown to him and the girls and he has a feeling that if they don't do something themselves, then one of them could be next.

The blonde leader approached his home and pulled into his driveway. Fred pulled his rearview mirror in a position so he could see his reflection. He looked beat, like he hadn't slept in days from being troubled. His light blonde, usually perfectly placed, hair was all tussled and messed up, his eyes red from the tears that had escaped earlier in the night, and his cheeks showed evidence of tear staining. He tried fiddling with his bangs, brushing them with his hand trying to make himself look somewhat better. Once he thought there was nothing else he could do, he put the mirror back in place, looked back up in the mirror and gasped. Fred's eyes widened and he pushed his car door open, leaping fastly out of the car. He ran to the ever famous Mystery Machine parked on the curb outside his house then stopped when he was in front of the van. His eyes scan the car for a good while and his face fills with fear and shock. He can't believe what he is seeing and does the first thing that comes to his mind…pulls out his cellphone and begins to dial Daphne's number.

Daphne and Velma were sitting on Velma's bed holding each other tightly. They have only been sitting there for about 10 minutes but the whole time, Velma has been crying in Daphne's arms. Daphne doesn't mind though, Velma is her best friend and she would do anything to help her…she hates seeing her so torn up like this. Velma has been hit the hardest tonight and Daphne knows that, she has known about Velma's feelings for Shaggy since it has been just a simple little crush. Velma had always come to her when she needed advice on how to do things or how to act in certain situations. She knows Shaggy and Velma were best friends and she knows that Velma loves him deeply. Just thinking about everything makes her tear up.

"Shhh Velma, you have to calm down," Daphne spoke softly petting Velma's hair.

"I can't calm down Daphne!" Velma snapped. "Shaggy and Scooby are dead! Murdered! I can't go any moment without, without thinking of Shaggy and how I never got to tell him how much I cared for him…how much I love him."

" I know you feel that way Velma, I know you really do," Daphne laid her head onto Velma's, "but sitting here hurting yourself like this isn't going to bring him back."

"I know it's not, but I wish it would."

"I know Velma, I wish that too but it's not. We will find out who killed him I'm sure of that," Daphne felt Velma nod beneath her words. She knew in her mind that her words were truthful no doubt.

Suddenly, Daphne and Velma lifted their heads up together when they heard a noise come from Daphne's purse. Her cellphone. Daphne excused herself from the bed and dug her phone out of her purse. When she saw the name of the caller she became worried.

"Hello? Fred? Are you alright?"

"Daph, you gotta get Velma and get over to my house immediately!" Fred sounded in panic.

"Why?! What's wrong?!" Daphne was worried now and Velma could see that in her friend's face.

"No time, just something you have to see," and with that Fred hung up.

"What was that all about?" Velma asked getting up of her bed.

"We have to go now!" Daphne looked at Velma with worry in her eyes.

"Why? What happened?" Velma was getting nervous.

"I don't know, Fred just said we need to get over to his house fast to see something. He sounded frantic," Daphne grabbed her keys and hurried out of Velma's house towards her pearl white convertible with the short brunette girl following closely at her heels. The two girls hopped into the car and Daphne started the engine.

"I hope Fred is alright…" Velma seemed lost in thought.

"I really hope he is too Velma," Daphne was biting her lip out of nervousness. Daphne pulled the car out into the street and she made her way over to Fred's house, all the while her mind racing with worried thoughts.


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4

Daphne pulled her car into Fred's driveway and her and Velma quickly got out of the car running to go stand next to Fred. He was standing in the middle of his lawn, staring at the Mystery Machine, his eyes wider than the full moon.

"Fred, what's wr-," Daphne's eyes widened in shock when she found the same image Fred was staring at.

"Oh my god…" Velma's mouth was dropped and her brown eyes wide beneath her glasses like her two friends. Written on the side of Mystery Machine was what seemed like a warning, a rhymed warning showing itself in a glossy red paint. It was like a scene out of a horror movie.

"Poor Shaggy and Scooby are dead," Velma began reading, "Now you better watch your head before you end up like-."

"Fred…" Fred finished the statement, whispering his name as though it were a sin to be spoken. He was shocked, speechless, and scared. He didn't know what to make off this message that was very obviously directed towards him personally.

"Freddie…" Daphne looked over at him, worry clear in her face.

"It's alright Daph, I'm sure it's nothing," he was trying to himself that more than her.

"Nothing?! NOTHING?! Of course it's _something_! Whoever wrote this is obviously the person who killed Shaggy and Scooby and wants you dead next! You can't just put this away like it's nothing!" Daphne yelled hysterically at Fred, tears wallowing up in her dark blue eyes.

"Don't you think I know that?! Don't you think that I know this message is from Shag and Scoob's murderer and that I am next?! I'm not blind to that Daphne! And I'm not just putting it off, I'm trying to figure out what to do!" Fred yelled not even thinking about his tone or what he was doing as he was talking.

"Freddie…you're hurting me," Daphne said painfully. Fred looked down at his hands, realizing that he was tightly gripping her forearms. He doesn't even remember grabbing onto her…he wouldn't have tried to hurt her on purpose.

"Sorry," Fred released his grip and Daphne grabbed her forearms rubbing them softly. "I'm just really shocked, and I really don't know what to make of this…"

Velma looked from Fred to Daphne then over at Daphne's car that holds her phone safely tucked inside. Her mind kept going back to the photo that she has on her phone of Shaggy's arm. She had been saving the picture to look over it later, not wanting to show her friends before she was for sure of what it was, though now her thoughts were quickly swaying. She hates seeing Fred all confused and lost like this. He always knows what to do and now he doesn't and the one clue that could change that lies in Velma's phone.

Velma dashed off towards Daphne's car, ignoring her friends calling out to her, asking what she was doing. She opened the car door seeing her phone sitting nicely in the passenger's seat holding the horrid photo in its memory. Hesitantly, she picked up the phone and shut the white car's door. Velma's pace slowed down when she was walking back to where Fred and Daphne were standing.

"Velma, what was that all about?" Daphne asked.

"I…I have to show you two something. It's about Shaggy…"

"What about Shaggy?" Fred asked.

"I found something on Shaggy that might be a huge clue in this mystery," Velma turned her phone screen so that Fred and Daphne could see the picture she has been hiding from them.

"Oh my…" Daphne's eyes widened.

"What…what does it mean?" Fred looked perplexed by the picture he was looking at. It was close-up picture of Shaggy's arm and what really disturbed the teens the most was the bloody numbers that looked to be carved in the lanky boy's skin. It was something none of them wanted to see on their departed friend.

"114?" Daphne said the numbers as if they were foreign words.

"I don't think the middle one is a number Daphne," Velma studied the picture carefully.

"What do you think it is then?"

"I think the one you think is a number 1 is actually not a number at all but a slash as in '1 out of 4'."

Fred stood there listening to Velma explain the picture to Daphne. He himself could not believe what he was looking at and more so why Velma didn't bother to show them this when she first found it. This was extremely important and needed to be brought to attention immediately, not after the fact. Their best friend and fellow Mystery Inc. member was just killed and Velma wanted to hide this from them? It doesn't make any sense in his mind.

"Why didn't you show us this earlier?!" Fred snapped at Velma.

"Because it really scares me and I wanted to look at it and try to figure it out before I showed you just so we wouldn't be looking at it without any clue as to what it is!" Velma yelled back, eyes staring intensely at the blonde boy.

"Velma, Shaggy and Scooby were just murdered, there is a threatening message written on the mystery machine, and you just thought that hiding this picture from us would be a good idea? It holds very vital information and you of all people I would think would share something like this!"  
"Well I'm sorry that I was just thinking about what would be best! And for your information, I had no idea about the Mystery Machine when I found this, no of us did!" Velma began to tear up at Fred's attacks towards her.

"It doesn't matter! You should have showed us! You aren't doing any good by keeping this secret!" Fred glared at her full of fury.

"Well if you haven't no-."

"Will you two please stop!" Daphne screamed and Fred and Velma fell silent. She was tired of hearing them argue. "All of this pointless arguing is going to get us nowhere! Fred, yes you have point, she probably should have showed us but at least she has now so it doesn't matter what her reason for not showing it is, it's out in the open now."

"Daph is right, I guess it is better to have seen it now then never to have seen it at all," Fred calmed down after the statement.

"Exactly, and this arguing is going to get us nowhere. We really need to figure out what this means and what we need to do next," Velma admitted wiping a lone tear from her eye.

"Yes, now Velma said that the carving is a 1 out of 4, so what does that mean? 1 out of 4 what?" Daphne said.

"Well, since the killer marked it on Shaggy and he is the first to be dead and the message on the van seems to talk to me next, I'm guessing that it has something to do with the four of us," Fred hypothesized sounding more like himself.

"Exactly what I was going at Fred," Velma agreed. "As crazy as this sounds, I think that it is a count the killer is using, meaning that I think he is going to be coming after all of us one at a time killing us off."

"I hate to say it, but what you're saying makes sense and it looks like I'm going to be second," Fred's nerves began to build in his body.

"No, we can't let him get you," Daphne clutched onto Fred's arm almost protectively.

"Nothing is going to happen to me Daphne, I mean come on, I'm Fred Jones, leader of Mystery Inc., nothing can take me down," Fred winked at the girl sounding for confident than he actually was. Inside he was shaking with fear.

"I wish you wouldn't be so cocky," Daphne bit her lip meaning what she said.

"It's just how I am," Fred shrugged. "Now, I think what we need to do is go back to the place where it all started."

"You mean…" Daphne started not liking the idea forming in his head.

"Oh yes I do, we need to go back to Shaggy's house," Fred smiled at her, making her shake.

"But Fred, you said earlier that we couldn't go back because his house is a crime scene now, you are right, we have to leave this up to the police," Velma brought up the comment from before.

"Forget what I said Velma. Since when has that ever stopped us before? I shouldn't have said that, and besides, this is no ordinary man in a mask, this is someone who has just killed our friends and now wants to kill us as well. We can't just leave this to the law this time," Fred was completely serious in what he was saying. No way would he let him and his friend's lives be put in the hands of the police.

"Even if we did take matters into our own hands, like you said Fred, this is no ordinary man in a mask. Whoever is out there is a killer and if we don't be careful, we can closely be behind Shaggy and Scooby," Velma stated, though she understood completely where he was coming from. Shaggy was her best friend and of course she wants to find out who killed him, but that doesn't mean she is completely blind to the danger that lies ahead.

"I realize that Velma, but I don't care. This is our best friend we are talking about and I won't rest until I find out who did this to him," Fred said his face saying he had already made his mind up. "Now I really don't want to do this alone, but that doesn't mean I won't."

Daphne looked at him, he was pleading her with his dark blue eyes. She bit her lip thinking about what she wanted to do. On one hand, she really wanted to help him, not let him go by himself, but on the other hand, it was very dangerous for them to go after a murderer all alone with no way to protect themselves. Fred was looking at her so desperately and Daphne knows very well that she can't ever resist that face…

"I hope you know what you are doing Fred…" she sighed giving in.

A smile appeared on his face, "Thanks, Daph. Velms?" he looked at the girl in orange.

"I don't know Fred…"

"Come on Velms, we really need you for this. I know you want to, you could never pass up a mystery. Please Velma, for us…for Shaggy…" He was right, she really could never pass up a good mystery like this one and she knows Fred and Daphne could never do this on their own. They need her…guess the choice is clear.

"Alright, I'm in," Velma smiled when she saw Fred's face light up.

"Great! Now the police should be gone back to the office to go through evidence so if we go we need to go tonight."

"Tonight?" Daphne's voice squeaked. "As in right now?"

"Exactly Daphne," Fred smiled at her and she felt herself swallow down a huge gulp.


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5

"Are you sure this is a good idea Fred?" Daphne looked all around her just waiting for someone to catch them as they snuck around back of Shaggy's house.

"No, not really, but we don't have any other choice," Fred turned himself around to face her, seriousness all over his face.

"He's right Daph, if we have any chance on gaining any clues we need to go where it happened," Velma said getting to the back door first. She pulled a set of metal, color-coated, keys from a red shoulder bag she had on. There were three different keys, a blue one, a purple one, and a green one, representing the three other members of Mystery Inc. not including herself. They were house keys that Velma had made for emergencies that ever sprang up and someone needed to get into someone else's house. She made a set for each person, color-coating them to match each gang member other than themselves. They have come in real handy throughout the years.

Velma put the green key in the lock and twisted the door ever so gently open. She peaked inside the dark house and saw the kitchen table where Shaggy and Scooby were just eating and the open living room off to the side. Painful memories shot into her head but she quickly shook them away and stepped inside. She walked over to the island where she saw chalk outlines of Shaggy and Scooby and crime tape around the area. At the police helped narrow down the clue searching area…

"All right girls, we need to start looking for any sort of clue that we can, from anywhere possible," Fred went into full on leader mode.

"Right, and it looks like the police were kind enough to mark off a very important area for us to look," Velma said looking over at the marked off crime scene.

"Yes, I see. Well then I guess Velma will stay here and investigate further, I will check the rest of the downstairs and Daphne will check the upstairs," Fred ordered the girls.

"But Fred," Daphne started, "I don't think we should all be separating right now, especially you. Something could happen to one of us if we are just all alone."

"I know Daph, but you just have to not worry about it, everything will be fine," Fred put his hand on the red head's shoulder for reassurance. "The killer is probably long gone by now, he wouldn't stay in the same place where he committed the crime."

"Maybe Daphne's right Fred, maybe we shouldn't all split up this time," Velma said biting her lip.

"No, we are splitting up no question to it," Fred huffed. "Look, if something does happen then we will just give a call to one of us."

"I guess that could work…" Velma hesitantly agreed.

"Alright, I'll go along with it," Daphne sighed.

"Okay gang, then let's split up and look for some clues," Fred said heading off into the direction of the living room.

Velma looked over at Daphne who looked hesitant to move and she moved next to her putting a hand on her shoulder, "It'll be alright Daph, Fred knows what he is doing."

"I don't know Velma, ever since we saw that message on the van and the picture he just hasn't been acting right and I'm just worried that he is going to keep being careless like this," Daphne looked at Velma worried.

"I know, I've noticed it too, but we can't stop him from doing this so we might as well help him do it."

"You're right, we can't stop him," Daphne sighed. "Well I guess I better head upstairs."

Daphne walked away from Velma, her hand now floating where Daphne's shoulder used to be, and the girl sighed. Daphne had a point and she knew that, but she did as well. There was no way that they would be able to stop Fred from doing what he is doing. He's the type of guy that when he sets his mind to something he does and no one can stop him from doing it. Velma turned to face the taped off area of the kitchen, going down onto her knees to get a closer look at the floor area. She looked around the chalk markings on the floor, her fingers sliding ever so gently along the lines. She looked at the various number cards that were set up where it looked like blood spots were, probably from the knife the killer used to mark into Shaggy's arm…wait a minute…the killer's knife! Velma thought for a quick second, working out a puzzle in her head. If she could follow the blood spots in some sort of trail, then maybe she could figure out where the killer had exited, and in turn also know where he entered. If she just looked carefully, she could figure out where the killer went after he killed Shaggy and Scooby, for he wouldn't exit a different way than he came in.

Fred walked through the living room and into some double doors that looked like they opened up to a master bedroom. If the killer had snuck into the house like Fred figured he did, then he most likely would have used a window in the back of the house. He found just what he was looking for when he saw a line of windows in the back behind a long desk. Fred carefully moved the desk away from the window and smiled when he saw one of the windows wide open. He got down on his knees and crawled over to the window, climbing out and ending up in the back yard. He stood himself up thinking about where the killer could have gone or come from. If he was right, the killer used this window in the master bedroom to gain entrance to the house.

Fred turned his head to the left and something out of place caught his blue eyes. He saw a rope hanging from a window on the side of the house on the second floor. He cocked his eyebrow at the sight and walked towards the rope, confused by this piece of the puzzle. Fred looked up to where the rope was coming from, but before he could do anything, the rope was suddenly tossed out the window and the window slammed shut. His eyes widened and he quickly turned around, running to the open window in the master bedroom and climbed through. He had to tell Velma what he had just seen.

Daphne made her way to the top of the stairs, her hands shaking slightly. Normally, she didn't mind Fred's plans, she just went along with them, but this time was different. To her, splitting up like this while there was a killer out there who wants to kill to them all and most of all that he is most likely inside the house gave her the nerves. She had to wonder what made him think that splitting up would be a good idea this time? Why would he let himself go alone when he is the one the killer is going to kill next? She really wanted him here, right by her side so that she could make sure there was no murderer around ready to stick a knife in Fred's back. That's what she wanted though it wasn't going to happen now…

Daphne turned and opened a door to the left of the landing, stepping inside to what looked like a library. She never knew that Shaggy and Scooby liked to read so much…or maybe this was their parents' book collection…yeah, that made more sense. The red head slowly walked around the room using her phone as a flashlight, thinking about where to start first. As she was walking, she felt her lavender high heel step on something other than the carpet. She took a step back and shinned her phone onto the ground to look at the unfamiliar object. She went down onto her knees and picked it up, but when she realized what it was she almost dropped it. It was a photo, a photo of the Mystery Inc. gang but there was something odd about the picture, Shaggy was crossed out with a red marker of some sort.

"Velma was right…" Daphne's hands were shaking with the picture in her hand. She knew she had to call Fred and Velma and tell them what she had just found.

Velma followed the trail of blood with her fingers, ever so carefully. Though the blood would show where the killer had exited the house, it would also tell her where he entered the house as well. He would never go out a different way than he had come in, too much hassle. She moved her glass covered eyes along the trail of red, hoping that her theory was correct and sure enough it was. She found that the killer had exited through the front door, which would also mean that he had entered through the same door. That would explain why it was open when she arrived at the house the first time.

"Velma!" Velma turned her head to look behind her at the source of the voice. It was Fred.

"Fred? What's wrong? Did something happen?" Velma stood up looking at the boy with confusion and worry mixed in her face.

"Kind of, well nothing bad…well I don't really know if it's good or bad-"

"Just tell me Fred," Velma interrupted.

"Okay, well I just need to tell you what I found outside," Fred started. "I walked into the master bedroom and I saw this line of windows behind a desk on the back wall so I decided to check them out. Glad I did because one of them was open, so I climbed outside to see if I could find out where the killer had come from. When I looked to the left though, I saw a rope hanging from a window on the second floor. I walked over to get a better look at it but once I got there, it was tossed from the window and the window slammed shut. I ran back inside and came to find you to tell you."

Velma gasped, for what she had just found did not match up with Fred's explanation. In fact, his explanation made her frightened. The killer came in through the front door…not a window in the master bedroom…

"Fred, there is something very wrong with what you just told me," Velma didn't look at him when she spoke, but rather stared off into space.

"What do you mean 'very wrong'?" Fred looked confused.

"Well what I found was a trail of blood coming from where Shaggy's and Scooby's bodies were, which I then thought it was from the knife the killer used to carve into Shaggy's arm. I figured if I studied the trail and followed it, then I can figure out where the killer had entered and exited the house. Turns out I was right and found the trail leading towards the front door. Now I didn't tell you and Daphne this, but when I got here the first time, I had found the front door unlocked and open which would make sense. Fred, the killer wouldn't exit a different way than he came in so your story doesn't make any sense," Velma explained.

"You're right, something isn't adding up," Fred was in deep thought with these two puzzle pieces. "The killer would exit a different way than he came in, he seems smarter than that, so why would the window have been open? And why was there a rope in the second floor window?"

"All very good questions Fred, that I don't know the answer to," Velma said.

Just as Fred was about to speak, he heard his phone ringing from his pocket. He pulled it out to look at who was calling him, and saw that it was in fact Daphne.

"Daphne? What happened? Are you alright?" Fred spat out the questions fast, his heart beginning to beat a little faster.

"I'm fine Fred, is Velma with you?"

"Yeah she's here," Fred sounded a little more relieved. "Why?"

"Just put the phone on speaker. I have something I think you both would want to hear."

"Okay. Velma, come over here," Fred motioned for Velma to come stand next to him and he put the phone onto speaker.

"Are you there Velma?" Daphne's voice came loud and clear over the phone.

"Yeah I'm here Daph, is something wrong? Are you okay?" Velma answered.

"Yes I am fine, I just need to tell you two something," Daphne began. "So I am up here in what I assume is their library and I found this picture on the floor of all of us except Shaggy has been crossed out by a red marker it looks like." Daphne explained.

"That's really weird…why would a picture like that be upstairs in _Shaggy's _house?" Velma questioned.

"I'm betting that picture belongs to the killer," Fred pointed out.

"That's exactly what I was thinking Fred," Daphne agreed over the phone.

"Maybe he dropped it while he was entering the house?" Fred thought.

"No, that couldn't be, the killer came and left through the front door not the second floor window," Velma said.

"That's true…" Fred thought for a minute, about the clues Velma had found, the picture that Daphne found that was obviously from the killer, the open window in the master bedroom, the rope and the window shutting from the second floor…wait…uh-oh…Fred's mind clicked all the pieces together and he began to spiral into a panic.

"Daphne! You need to come downstairs right now!" Fred yelled into the phone.

"Umm okay Fred, I'll be ri-" Daphne was suddenly cut off in mid-sentence and Fred and Velma could hear her gasp in the background. It sounded like there was a struggle going on the other side of the speakers.

"Daphne! Daphne!" Fred yelled into the phone, his heart pounding against his chest. His heart was racing with fear and Velma too began to sweat out of nerves. All of the sudden they heard a crazy maniacal laugh come from the speaker that made the hairs on the back of their necks stand up.

"Now, now, Fred, what were you thinking letting the three of you separate like that," a voice said through the phone, obviously a man's voice, with a tone that they could tell he was evilly smirking behind the words.

"Who are you?! What have you done with Daphne?!" Fred's voice was low and threatening.

"Now Fred, don't spit out so many questions at once. You and I both know that only the latter question matters to you the most, not who I am," he said taunting Fred.

"I swear if you hurt her…" Fred was in no mood to play games.

"Then what? You'll come upstairs and stop me?" he laughed as if it were a joke.

"You bet I would, so you better leave her alone or I-"

"But there is something that you do not know Fred," he cut Fred off before he could finish. "From where we are, I can hear every little step you take and if you so much as make one single move, I will not hesitate to kill her, so unless you want her to die I suggest that you stay put and listen to what I have to say."  
"We don't really have a choice Fred," Velma put her hand on his shoulder for reassurance.

"I would listen to Velma, Fred. She is the smart one," he smites his words.

Fred didn't want to listen to Velma, he wanted to run upstairs and get this guy away from Daphne. He wanted to knock him or heck he was mad enough to kill him for what he has done to them…done to Shaggy…He can't though, he can't do any of that because the killer is upstairs holding the one person he cares most about in his arms ready to take her life away if Fred even tries to make a move. His whole body was tense and on the inside his stomach had dropped and his heart was racing. The thought of losing Daphne crushed him.

"Fred.." Velma looked at the blonde boy trying to read his face.

"Alright, what do you want…" Fred spat into the phone.

"Ah I knew you would come around Fred," the killer evilly chuckled. "Now, here is what is going to happen, I'm going to be taking Daphne with me and as soon as we leave, I want you to come upstairs to the library. Now I'm going to leave Daphne's phone here so when you come up to the library you will go on it and go into the maps application. There will be an address already typed in and I want you to follow the directions to that location. You will have 1 hour to go to this destination or say goodbye to Daphne. Oh, and one more thing, don't even think about calling the police, I have eyes on both of you and your cellphones. 1 hour Fred, don't be late," the phone cut off and Fred hung his head.

"Come on Fred, we need to go upstairs," Velma put her hand onto his white sweater sleeve. Fred didn't answer her back, he just shoved her of and ran in the direction of the stairs with Velma close on his heels.


	6. Chapter 6

Part 6

Fred and Velma drove in silence down the road in Fred's blue car. They had gotten Daphne's phone before heading straight out of Shaggy's house and were on their way towards their destination. Velma had the phone clutched tightly in her hands watching the little blue dot move on the map. She was worried and scared, not only was her love and friend just found dead but now her best friend has been kidnapped by the madman who committed the crime and he won't keep her alive for very long. Velma's heart was being torn into pieces all in a matter of a couple of hours.

She turned her gaze towards Fred, who was looking intensely at the road but not really paying attention to what he was doing or where he was going. Velma had been trying to talk to him the whole time they have been in the car but he wasn't willing to talk back. Only when he needed a direction he would talk to her but even then he wouldn't face her when he spoke. Fred was in no mood to converse with the girl, he was too busy thinking about Daphne and getting to her in time. She was the last person he wanted to be in danger at the moment and couldn't help but be furious with himself for it was all his fault. He told them to split up, he should have listened to her when she said that it was too dangerous for them to be separated since the killer might still be in the house…how could he have been so stupid? He has always listened to her before, what made this time any different? What made his mind want to ignore her this time while still listening perfectly to everything that Velma was saying? Why did he send her upstairs alone instead of having her downstairs where Velma wouldn't be too far away? He should have been the one to go upstairs not her…it was all his fault why she was gone and in danger now.

"Freddie…" Velma's voice was soft as she spoke but Fred didn't seem to hear her.

"Fred, please talk to me," Velma looked desperately towards her friend wanting so badly for him to say something.

"There is nothing to talk about Velma," Fred's voice was low and full of pain and rage; he didn't bother looking in her direction.

"Yes there is Fred; we have to talk about what we are going to do when we get there. We need a plan and we –"

"What do you mean a plan? We find Daphne that's the plan!" Fred spat in fury.

"We can't just go in there blindly Fred! We need to think this through or we might get ourselves killed! Since when have you ever gone into something without a plan?!" Velma shouted.

"Since the one person that I care more about than anything in the world could be dead at any moment if I don't hurry up and find her! If you hadn't noticed Velma, we are a major time crunch and we don't have time to sit and waste on stupid things like a plan!" Fred yelled cringing back as he felt a tear form in his eye. "I don't want to lose her Velma, I don't know what I would do if I did…"

"I know you don't Fred," Velma put her hand on his shoulder , "I know what is feels like to lose the person you care most about and trust me I would not want that pain to be put on you. I have gotten mad at myself all night tonight thinking about what I could have done to make it to where Shaggy was still alive and with us right now. That if I had only shown up sooner than I could have called for help before he passed. Losing Shaggy is the hardest thing I ever had to go through and Daphne is my best friend, I want to do whatever I can to make sure that she comes out of this alive but that doesn't mean that I'm going to just throw myself into the line of fire and maybe kill myself too. You have got to think Fred!"

"Don't touch me!" Fred jerked his shoulder away from her grip.

"Fred you can't just ignore me!" Velma raised her voice.

"Why not? I can do what I want Velma and right now I don't want you touching me or talking to me!" Fred shouted. "Look, it's not like I haven't been thinking about what to do when we get there, my mind is just too preoccupied right now that I really don't want to be thinking about it. And just for the record, it's not like you were the only one who lost Shaggy, Velma, I did too. He was one of my best friends and having to except the fact that he is gone is absolutely heart breaking! So don't even try to talk to me about Daphne when you have been nothing but Shaggy all night! You are not the only one going through the loss so shut up and quit acting like you are!"

Velma looked stunned and lost for words, "That is not true Fred and you know it! I have not been acting like that!"

"Don't act like you haven't been Velma!" Fred harshly said. "All it has been about since we found Shaggy is woe is me and how you two never actually got together and how you never got to say how you felt about him! You act like you are the only one who is sad that he is dead and you don't care about mine or Daphne's feelings about him! And now Daphne could be dead for all we know and you don't even care about it!"

"Why would you even say something like that?!" Velma shouted hurt by his words.

"Because it's the truth! You don't care about anyone other than yourself! Don't even try to say otherwise Velma!" Fred was enraged and he could feel his hands tighten around the steering wheel.

"I can't believe you Fred! Why do you feel like hurting me is the best thing to do!?" Velma shouted tears in her eyes.

Fred bit his lip and sighed, "I'm sorry, you just…you just understand what I am feeling right now."

"Don't understand?!" Velma was taken back. "How could you think that I don't understand?! Like you said with Shaggy, he was your best friend too not just mine and that's how it is with Daphne! She is my best friend too Fred, not just yours and I want to help her just as much as you do now."

"It's…it's different," Fred's fury was almost to the top of its peak to the point of becoming violent.

"It's different? How is it different?" Velma asked and Fred ignored her looking solely at the road not wanting to respond. Velma slumped back in her seat and groaned very aggravated and mad at the guy next to her.

"You're so hypocritical," Velma groaned looking out the passenger side window.

"Just stop talking to me Velma, just stop!" Fred spat still not facing her.

"Fine!" Velma spat back.

"Good!" Fred stayed with his head facing the road. Velma didn't look at him after the comment but just stared out the window teary-eyed. Fred's comments had hurt her deep. She knows that he is very emotional at the moment and his anger is boiling but she still takes his words to heart. Maybe he will return to normal once this is all over and they find Daphne and put the killer behind bars for his crimes. Maybe then Fred will begin again to be his friendly self…Velma could only hope. She is not very fond of the Fred that is sitting beside her and she hopes that he will not stay like this for very long.

Fred stared intensely into the road, his mind racing through the thoughts at dangerous speeds. So much of his thoughts are wanting his attention and now after the fight he just had with Velma he can't think clearly. He probably shouldn't have said some of the things he had said but there is no taking it back now. Besides, Velma is one of his best friends and even though he felt strongly about some of the things he said to her, he still shouldn't have been that harsh. He felt bad but he was more worried about Daphne than he was about her. Just the thought of her being in the hands of that madman who could do god knows what to her makes his blood boil with fury. He clutched the steering wheel tighter until his knuckles were now a complete white. It was roughly 2 in the morning and he was exhausted. The night has been long and full of emotion and stress and it was all becoming too much for Fred. All he wants is to go back in time before all of this happened, before Shaggy and Scooby were killed, before Daphne was kidnapped, and they were just one big happy mystery solving family. Now two of them were dead, one is about to be dead, and the other two have been arguing so much that the tension is thick. Fred didn't want this, he didn't want this to happen to them but all he can do is to stay alive and try to keep everything going.

Fred turned down a number of neighborhood streets glancing at the GPS on Daphne's phone every now and then to make sure they were headed in the right direction. They were getting closer to the house and Fred's heart was beating fast. He took in a deep breath and turned his head to look at Velma who was slumped down in the passenger's seat. A frown formed on his face for he felt bad about what he said and maybe after this is all over he could make amends with her and apologize. For now though, he needs to watch the road and watch the time for they have turned onto the street where the killer is and Fred needs to pay attention very carefully to the house numbers.


	7. Chapter 7

Part 7

Fred pulled into the drive of the destination address on Daphne's phone and the sudden stop made Velma perk up. She glanced out the front windshield seeing the house that they were stopped at. It was their final location no doubt about that in her mind but more so she was actually quite surprised. It was a normal looking house, two stories, and maybe bigger than average but still quite nice and normal, nothing that would give away what was going on behind those doors. One wouldn't even begin to guess that a crazy psychopath lives at this address.

"Are you coming Velma?" Velma pulled out of her trance and looked to Fred who had his door open ready to exit the car.

"Yeah I'm coming," she responded opening her own door and sliding out from her seat. "You sure this is the right place?"

"Yeah, this is it," Fred looked down at the phone in his hand. He pressed the top button turning it off and placed it snug in his back pocket.

"Not really what I imagined it to look like," Velma said scanning the house up, down, left and right.

"If only the neighbors knew what was going on just next door," Fred said absent minded making his way towards the front door. Velma quickly followed suit but sped ahead of Fred, blocking the front door with her body.

"Out of my way Velma," he sternly looked at the girl blocking his entrance, not in any mood for delays.

"No Fred, like I said before, we can't just barge in there! We have to come up with a plan!" Velma looked back at him, her face completely serious. "I know you are desperate but Fred, you have got to stop and think about this!"

"No I don't need to stop and think about it and we don't have time to think of a plan! We don't have much time left before the hour is up and Daphne is dead! I really don't want to waste time on pointless things like this if we don't have too!" Fred really felt like pushing her out of the way but knew better than to do that to Velma after what had just went down in the car.

"This is not something pointless Fred! I'm just trying to think about what is best for our lives!"

"What about Daphne's life?! We need to be worrying about her more than ourselves right now! I thought she was your best friend Velma!"

"She is my best friend!" Velma yelled back defensively.

"Then start acting like a best friend and quit wasting our time!" Velma's jaw dropped at the statement. "Now get out of my way!"

Velma stood still, she was completely taken back by his words as she has been the whole time since they were driving over here. She understands that he is stressed, why wouldn't he be? He loves Daphne with all his heart and she's even stressed because Daphne is her best friend, but that does not give him an excuse to act like a complete jerk towards her. Ever since they had left Shaggy's house he has been nothing but hateful and horrible towards her and at times she debated in her mind whether or not to just walk away from him and let him carry on with his carelessness himself. Every time she got close to doing just that she was always stopped for one reason, Daphne. Daphne was the only thing keeping her with Fred this long. She is her best friend and she would not want to see her get hurt, even since she lost Shaggy, Daphne is the only thing she has left…well, other than Fred. She is going to stay for Daphne but she is really wishing she didn't have Fred with her at the moment.

"We don't even know if the door is unlocked," Velma finally broke the silence between the two of them.

Just as Fred was about to say something, he heard his phone ding from his front pocket. It was his text messaging ring. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, confused as to who would be texting him at this time of night, and looked at the screen seeing a message from an unfamiliar phone number. Fred's bright blue eyes widened out of shock and fear and he looked up straight into Velma's big brown ones. Velma stared back at him confused by his expression and Fred turned his phone towards Velma so that she could see the text. Her face about copied his when she saw.

**To: Fred **

**From: +8178675309**

_**It's unlocked**_

"Fred…who is that?" Velma's voice cracked.

"I have no idea…" Fred held the phone in his now shaking hand and turned his gaze towards the front door. Fred began to advance forward and Velma moved out of the way. She watched as Fred placed his hand on the doorknob and turned. Just as he suspected the front door was open and as soon as the lock clicked chills raced all through his body. He pushed the door open to reveal the darkness of the rooms on the inside.

"I think I know who the message is from Velma," Fred said still looking forward into the house.

"I…I think I know too…" Velma stuttered out still shocked by what just happened to them.

Fred stepped inside in the house stopping in the foyer entrance way with Velma close behind. They couldn't see very much for it was pretty dark but they were not completely blind in the darkness. It was enough to see where they were and where they could go.

"We need to split up," Fred suddenly turned around to face Velma.

"Are you mad?! We can't split up in here!" Velma protested. "We don't know what kind of traps this guy has waiting for us in this house let alone where he even is anyway! What if we run into him? We could be killed!"  
"Well it is obvious from that message that he knows we are here so I think the element of surprise has left us and I really only care about the fact that he still has Daphne somewhere in here. All I worry about is finding her before she is dead and we can find her faster if we split up than if we stayed together. If you are worried then just watch where you are going and keep a look out for any signs of him or any traps he has set up. It's going to be fine Velma, besides, it's me that he wants to kill next not you so you'll be safe," Fred put a hand on the girl's shoulder giving her also a nice smile.

"You can't go by yourself Fred! We can't risk losing you too! What if he does find you and get killed?! I don't want to lose two friends in one night it would kill me to have that happen! You're an idiot if you think this is the right thing to do!" Velma looked at him with desperate eyes.

"I will be fine. Daphne is the one I'm worried about, she's in more danger than I am and I just want to find her." Fred let out a sigh and tilted his head down, "Please Velma, I want you to worry about Daphne not about me."

Velma stayed silent, not wanting to answer him. Wasn't it just a couple minutes ago they were yelling at each other and Velma was thinking to herself that she would rather not be with Fred right now and do this all herself? Now he was smiling at her and she was protesting his plan to split up? She is mad at Fred, there is no doubt about that, he hurt her bad with his words and has only been shooting her down, but in her heart she knows that she loves him and he loves her and neither one of them would want to see the other get killed. What he was saying was sending warning bells in her head and in some ways she really doesn't want him to be alone even after everything that has happened…

"I'll go upstairs and you can search the downstairs," Fred said breaking the silence. "If you find Daphne then call me or come find me and I will do the same."

Fred turned around to head up the stairs but Velma suddenly stopped him by reaching out and grabbing his arm. He turned around and looked at her for an answer as to why she suddenly stopped him.

Velma lowered her head and sighed, "Just…just be careful okay Fred?"

All he did was nod back at her then he began his way up the stairs. Velma felt her stomach drop at the cold shoulder given to her. What was happening to them? Just a few hours ago they were all best friends, all still alive, and now everything was falling apart. How could all their years of friendship just seem to disappear and be in complete jeopardy in one night? Velma fights back a couple of tears wanting to come out thinking about everything. Like Fred said, she shouldn't be worrying about all this right now, finding Daphne safe and alive was top priority. Velma gathers up her emotions and heads out past the stairs with a flashlight clutched tightly in her head.

Fred stopped when he reached the top of the landing. His eyes scanned the large open room to his right and spotted what looked like an extra hallway all the way in the back. He had to focus, he couldn't let his emotions get the best of him now, not when he was this close. He felt bad leaving Velma like that but there was no time to make amends now like he would really want to. He had a job to do, he had to protect what was left of his gang and if that meant sacrificing himself then that's what he would do. He didn't feel bad about splitting up, he knows from all the clues that the killer wants to kill him next and if he had kept Velma with him then she might have surely died if the killer came for him. Fred couldn't live with himself if that happened to her, that's why he sent her alone so that she would be safe. He wouldn't say this out loud but part of him hopes that she finds Daphne before he does. He wouldn't want her to stand beside him right now, he doesn't know what he would do if Daphne died because of him…

Fred pulled a flashlight out of his pocket and turned it on to illuminate the path before him. He swallowed a big gulp and slowly began to move his feet in the direction of the dark hall. Every little sound made him jump and turn his head in all directions. No doubt he was scared and nervous, one wrong move and he could be dead or come face to face with the killer like he predicted with no way to defend himself but a flashlight. He had to be brave though, he had to find out where he was hiding Daphne, whether he found her or Velma did. He loves her with all his heart and he would do anything to make sure she was alright…anything.

Fred made his way across the room and into the little hallway. He pushed open each door he saw calling out Daphne's name each time and each time she didn't answer back his heart would sink. Fred reached the end of the little hallway and stood in front of two double doors. He walked over to them and pushed them open with some hesitation in the action. He walked into the room immediately spotting a great but creepy and scary clue. What he saw was unsettling and his stomach dropped just looking at them. It looked like the villain's main control room in the movies with tables with computers on them and pictures all over the walls. Fred found a light switch on the wall and turned it on revealing the disturbing pictures. He walked over to one of the back walls to get a better look at them hoping he was wrong about what he thought they were. He carefully moved his fingers across the photographs and chill went down his spine. They were pictures of him and the rest of the gang in their everyday lives, in their homes…

"So he has been watching us all this time?" Fred thought aloud. "But just who is this guy?"

Fred looked around the photos and his eyes stopped their movement when he spotted a picture that was not of them, but of two men, one very young and another who looks significantly older. Something was puzzling Fred though about this picture. His mind was telling him that he has seen the older man before but he can't quite point out where.

"Where have I seen him before? He looks so familiar…"

He continued to look over the wall until he spotted a newspaper article. As Fred was trying to read it over however, little did he know that there was someone threating standing behind him. All of the sudden, he felt something hard hit him on his head and he fell hard onto the ground. He felt a sharp cutting pain in the palms of his hands before falling completely unconscious.


	8. Chapter 8

Part 8

Velma scouted the downstairs area very carefully checking every nook and cranny for any signs of something unusual or a booby trap of some sort. Walking around in a dark unfamiliar house with a psychopath hiding god knows where inside of it did not exactly make her feel very comfortable or very safe for that matter. Velma hesitantly called out Daphne's name when she would turn a corner but her voice never rose too loud, for at the same time she really did not want to get detected. She walked through a large room, looked like an open living room, and saw stacks upon stacks of papers on a little coffee table in front of a leather couch. The killer has obviously been hard at work on something…but what was it?

Velma continued through the large open room but suddenly stopped when her eyes spotted a little hallway to her right. She gazed down the little nook seeing four different doors that were all in a sort of semi-circular type pattern. Velma moved her brown eyes back and forth between the doors, in her mind trying to decide which door to open first. She slowly stepped into the middle of the hall her eyes still never staying in one spot for too long.

"Which one should I try first?" Velma thought aloud.

All of the sudden Velma's thoughts were halted as her ears picked up a loud bang noise come from a distance. The noise seemed to come from in front of her and her whole body went stiff and chills raced down her spine. Her heart began to beat at a deathly pace as the bangs continued to sound behind one of the doors in front of her. Velma moved her feet slowly to the doors in the back and put her ear up against the one on the left. She listened, but the sound did not seem to be very prominent behind this door so she moved to the one on her right. She listened and decided that the noise seemed to be coming from behind this door. She swallowed hard and placed her hand on the doorknob slowly turning the handle and stepped inside. The room was very plain, nothing really to it at all; there wasn't much furniture just a small bed against the back wall where Velma had entered, a small desk on the left of the door with things stacked upon it, and a small couch against the front wall.

"Hello?" Velma called out shutting the door behind her.

There was a sudden stop in the noise, but it quickly started up again and this time there was a muffled voice added to it. Velma stiffened up again now wishing that she had never said anything.

"Who's there?" Velma asked and as soon as she asked the question the banging stopped again and the voice stopped as well.

Velma was about to say something but the noise came back and so did the voice. She listened more carefully to it now hearing something familiar in it as she listened. It sounded familiar and it sounded panicked like it was crying out for help from anyone you could give it to them. She turned her gaze and saw the closet door on the right moving ever so slightly. She quickly stepped around the little twin bed that was sticking out in the room and found herself standing in front of the door. She watched as the door shook in front of her and she placed her hand on the doorknob ready to turn it. As soon as she heard the door click the banging stopped and so did the cry of the voice. Velma jerked her hand off the knob, startled by the sudden silence but quickly placed her hand back on it and opened the door. When she saw what the door was hiding behind it she gasped, but not out of fear, but out of shock and joy. It was Daphne.

"Daphne!" Velma yelled out with excitement, hugging her distraught best friend ever so tightly. Tears raced from her eyes, she has never felt so much more relieved in her life.

"I thought you were dead…" Velma said into Daphne's long red hair. She pulled herself away from her friend to get a better look at her. She looked absolutely horrible and terrified from whatever had happened to her while she was away from them. Her hands were tied tightly together and her mouth was covered with her bright green scarf. Her usually flawless face was now bright red and showed evidence of tear-staining on her cheeks that was most likely from crying an excessive amount. She looked as though she had been through the worst minutes of her life and Velma figured that was not too far from the truth. There is no telling what he could have done to her and if he did do anything it would not be classified as good.

Daphne looked up at her friend, her bright blue eyes wallow up with tears and Velma could the very apparent agony that she showed on her face. Daphne was ecstatic to see Velma standing before her and not the killer, in fact, she would rather see anyone right now other than him. The way that he treated her and the fear he sent rushing through her whole body etched into her mind and she can't escape it. She has been kidnapped many times in the past and it starts to not affect her that much but this time it was different. Never before has she felt more afraid for her life than this time nor has she feared a bad guy more than she does him. Daphne cannot express how happy she is to see her best friend.

Velma let go of Daphne and gently removed the scarf from her mouth so she could speak. She held the scarf in her hand and looked desperately at Daphne wanting her to say something, anything. Daphne parted her lips as if to speak but quickly shut her mouth again. Velma watched as Daphne put her head down, trying to position herself to where she wouldn't have to look into Velma's worried eyes. She felt herself about to start crying.

"Daphne?" Velma tilted Daphne's chin up so that she could look at her. "Daphne, say something…please."

"Velma…" she softly spoke as if it hurt her to speak. "Velma…you don't know how happy I am to see you here."

"You don't know how happy I am to see you too Daph…Are you alright? You don't look to well off," Velma studied her closely.

"No, I'm not really okay at all…" Daphne was beginning to tear up.

"Don't worry Daph, I'll help you. Now listen, we should probably get you out of here, the killer will be any minute and - ."

"No! He can't come back! I have to escape!" Daphne screamed hysterically. She bolted towards the door that Velma had entered through and began banging on it like she did the closet door, her hands still tied together. All she heard was that he was coming back and there was no way she wanted to be there when he did come back.

"Daphne stop!" Velma wrapped her arms around Daphne's waist trying to pull her back.

"No! I have to get out of here Velma! I can't handle another minute with him!" Daphne yelled still slamming the door with her hands.

Velma continued to tug at her trying to get her to stop, yelling at her to calm, down for she knew that Daphne was getting to hurt herself if she continued with the hysterics like she is. Daphne finally began to calm down and Velma tightened her grip around Daphne's waist. She finally fully stopped and Velma released her, turning her around so that she was now against the door. Daphne looked up and stared straight into Velma's eyes.

"Velma…," Daphne was breathing very heavily.

"Daphne, what was that all about?" Velma asked in shock at what just happened.

"I just…I just…," Daphne couldn't get the words to form on her tongue.

"Why are going crazy over him? What did he do to you?" Velma asked genuinely worried and confused.

Daphne slid her body down the door, staring blankly ahead of her. That was the one question that she did not want Velma to ask her. The memories so deeply poison her mind and she never wants to think of them ever again. He was so violent towards her and she could still feel his grip on her as if he was holding her right there. Just thinking about makes her heart race and the events began to play out in her mind no matter how hard she tries to shoo them away. She members him holding tightly onto her forearm, dragging her through the house yelling at her and squeezing her even tighter when she would try to get away from his grip. He had slammed open the door to the room her and Velma were now in and basically threw her onto the couch, the memory made her skin jump. She saw her chance to escape then and her mind began to think as she watched him walk towards her. He was saying how useless her trying to escape would be and as soon as he was close enough, she swung her bound hands right into his shoulder making him grab hold of it wincing in pain. Daphne quickly leaped to her feet, the escape exit clear in her sight, but before she could make it very far she felt those strong hands on her forearms and she gasped. He roughly turned her around and pinned her against the wall and she yelped out in pain when she hit. He just smiled at her and laughed a sinister laugh that tugged at her very core. He told her how it was so cute that she tried to escape him and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get away from him. He pulled her off the wall and turned her around so that she was facing away from him, still holding onto her tightly. He leaned his head down and chuckled evilly in her ear sending her nerves into overdrive.

"Fred isn't here to save you this time Daphne," he had told her. "By the time he gets here he won't be able to save you ether so my advice is to not waste all your energy trying to fight me when you know you have no chance, and besides, if you even try to escape again I won't hesitate to go ahead and kill you."

Daphne's eyes widened at the statement and that's the last she thing she can really remember. Now she just sits against the door with Velma looking so very worried about her. She brings her head down to her knees and tears slowly fall from her eyes. Velma gets down onto her knees and gently places a hand on Daphne's shoulder hoping that she will put her head back up and Velma can look into her face.

"Daphne," Velma spoke and Daphne lifted her head up just like Velma wanted, "Daphne what did he do to you? Please, you can tell me."

"I…I really don't want to talk about it right now," Daphne chocked the words out.

"Did he hurt you that bad?" Velma could see the pain in Daphne's face but couldn't see any signs of bruising or scratching because of her long purple sleeves and pink tights. Whatever he did, she could tell that it affected Daphne pretty bad.

"Yes…I've…I've never been so scared in my life," Daphne couldn't hold it back any longer, the tears poured out of her eyes. "I just want to leave, I don't want to be here anywhere near him anymore."

Velma moved to scoot around to the side of Daphne and put her arm around her friend's shoulders. Seeing her like this just about made Velma scolding mad. Daphne is her best friend and seeing like she is now all broken down and in pain makes her blood boil. Through the midst of all her anger though, more than anything she is ecstatic to see her alive. She honestly expected the worst that the killer would not have not been truthful to his word and went ahead and killed her anyway. Velma was happy to have her alive next to her now but the fact that she was so deeply damaged did not make the situation any better. Velma sighed and thought to herself for a moment on what they need to do next. It didn't take her long to decide however, she knew exactly what they needed to do, they needed to find Fred and get out of this house. This is one mystery they cannot solve themselves, it has gotten way too dangerous for them to take care of and it needs to put into the hands of the police. They need to get somewhere safe where they will not be in a constant worry for their lives. Velma did not know exactly how Fred was going to handle her quick made decision but she really didn't care. She knew in her heart this was the right thing to do and as soon as he got one look at Daphne he wouldn't hesitate to agree with her.

"Okay that's it, we are finding Fred and we are getting out of here to somewhere that is safer than here," Velma started. "This mystery is getting way too dangerous for us to handle."

"Yes…yes let's find Fred and get out of here. I would really like to see him," Daphne agreed.

"I think that would be the best thing for you right now," Velma smiled a small smile. "Come on Daph, let's go…oh but first…" Velma reached for Daphne's hands and untied the knots binding them together. Daphne rubbed her wrists where she felt that the ropes were almost cutting off her circulation. Velma then wrapped the green scarf that was in her hand around Daphne's neck tying it giving her back her signature look.

"Perfect," Velma smiled and motioned for Daphne to follow her. The two girls left the room and headed towards the front of the house to go upstairs.


	9. Chapter 9

Part 9

Velma quickly made her way up the stairs with Daphne right at her heels, both girls eager to find their friend and leave. Velma would constantly look back at the red-head behind her to make sure she was doing okay. She knew however, the answer every time to that question and she was not happy with what she was seeing. Daphne's face had pain shown on every inch of it and her dark blue eyes were with fear and had a horrible red tint to them from hot tears. She would never keep her eyes fixed on one spot for very long but would constantly look in every direction and she had a firm hold on her bottom lip with her teeth. She reeked of paranoia and worry and Velma could only think that since now her friend was free, she was scared. Whatever the killer had done to her must have scared her death and made her even more scared of him…Velma was even scared of him. For him to just kill Shaggy and Scooby like it is just a walk in the park was frightening to think about and now he has them all trapped in his home, infecting their minds with some horrific mind games, watching them, waiting to pick them off one by one, and that kind of psycho behavior scares Velma more than anything. She was happy though that she didn't know what happened between him and Daphne, for she knows that if she did she would probably be furious and lose her focus. The only thing they need to focus on right now is finding Fred.

Velma and Daphne stopped when they reached a big open area just to the right of the staircase. Velma knew Fred had come upstairs but where he went after he got up there was a complete mystery. She had to think, and she had to think fast, for she knew that she was going to have to be the one to figure everything out since Daphne was on the verge of losing her mind. She would be no help to Velma and Velma knew it all too well.

The two girls made their way around a large ping pong table in the middle of the room. Velma moved her eyes in every direction looking for any possible traps or clues like she did downstairs. Though finding Fred was number one on the priority list, she wasn't going to be careless or not use the moment of opportunity. She spotted a little hallway off to the side in front of her and Daphne and made her way towards it already seeing two doors. She figured this must have been where Fred had gone, it's only the most logical answer. She wanted to yell out his name but something inside of her was stopping her from doing just that. The two girls walked into the hallway having a door behind them and two on the left all the way down and a pair of double doors all the way at the end.

"You go check inside those double doors at the end there and I will check all of these along the wall," Velma said.

"Velma…" Daphne hesitated, she didn't want to go alone.

"It will be alright Daph," Velma smiled at her best friend. "I'm right here, I'll never leave your line of sight."

Daphne nodded and walked away, while Velma turned around to the two doors that were somewhat side by side to each other getting no luck with ether one. One was a smaller room that looked untouched and the other was a bathroom. Velma sighed, she doesn't like playing the "which door is my friend behind" game. Already twice in the last 10 minutes she has had to play this "game" and it does not make her very happy. Velma walks away and goes to check the third door just 3 feet from the other two.

Daphne makes her way towards the double doors, hesitant in her steps, hearing Velma open and close doors behind her. She doesn't like the big ominous double doors because they are never good, always mean trouble. It seems that in the movies that is where the heart of the villain's lair is behind those doors and that is the last place she wants to be. She mustered up her courage and pushed open the two doors. Her eyes gazed about the room looking at the many different photos on the walls and the computers all throughout. Her body cringed in fear and chills ran all up and down her back. There were pictures of the whole gang on the walls, all over them, like this guy had been watching them for some time now. That fact that he had been following them and taking pictures of them in their everyday private lives…that made her nervous. She turned her gaze away from the pictures and as she began to look around again her eyes caught something on the floor. She looked down and gasped hard, her eyes forming tears…Fred. Daphne walked over to him and fell on her knees, letting out a loud hurtful scream.

Velma was just about to open her last door when a loud noise caught her ears. Daphne, screaming…Velma rushed in the direction of the double doors. She pushes them open and she sees Daphne on her knees crying hysterically in front of…Fred? Velma looked closely not wanting to believe her eyes, but there was Fred on the floor motionless, lifeless. No…

"Fred…" Velma choked out trying to look over Daphne's shoulder. Daphne murmured something but Velma didn't understand what. "What did you say Daphne?"

"He's dead!" Daphne yelled sharply not even turning around. Velma's mouth dropped open in shock. Tears formed in her chocolate brown eyes as she walked over to her friend and knelt down beside her placing an arm around her shoulders. She laid her head down on Daphne's shoulder, looking down at Fred the whole time. She couldn't believe it, she couldn't believe that he was dead…their leader, he was never supposed to fall, Fred was tough and nothing could take him down. Velma could not, would not believe that he was gone but she knew her eyes have never lied to her before though she wishes they were now. She began rocking back and forth trying to soothe Daphne but nothing seemed to be helping.

"Shhh Daphne, try to calm down," Velma cooed.

"Calm down?! Calm down!" Daphne shouted back still full of tears. "How can I calm down Velma?! Fred is dead! Dead! He's gone…I'm never going to be able to speak to him again, never hear his voice, never going to get to tell him everything…everything that needs to be said is never going to get said now. I loved him so much and now he's gone! Don't I have a right to cry huh Velma? Don't I have the right to mourn the loss of the man I love? Did we ever tell you to calm down when you were crying over Shaggy? Did we Velma?!"

Daphne's words caught Velma off guard. Why did they have to keep bringing up her and Shaggy? First Fred and now Daphne? Why do they have to keep stabbing her where it hurt the most when all she has been trying to do is help? Heck if anything she should be the one getting the help from them to get through losing Shaggy because of how she felt about him though now since Fred is dead Daphne will be in the same boat and that won't be much help. Velma was getting really tired of all of this coming right back at her and being blamed for everyone's horrible feelings. None of it was her fault…none of this was happening because of a could have been relationship between her and Shaggy. She doesn't understand why they keep yelling at her for this and quite frankly she is really getting irritated by it. Velma's emotions fired up and if she was in a cartoon steam would be coming out of her ears. She pulled her arms away from Daphne and furiously stood up.

"That's it! That's it I have had it!" Velma yelled. "I don't know what the problem is with you or it was with Fred but that is enough! I don't understand how this is all my fault! How is my possible relationship with Shaggy the target for you two to blame me for everything that is happening to us?! Why am I the one who is getting shut out and yelled at when I have done nothing but help?! Tell me Daphne, tell me why you think yelling at me about Shaggy is the right thing to do!"

"Velma…" Daphne was taken back, "it's not the same, you don't understand."

"I don't understand?!" Velma retaliated on the verge of tears. "How do I not understand? How is it not the same? How is me losing Shaggy any different than you losing Fred? Well guess what Daphne, it's not! It's not different at all! I loved Shaggy a lot like you love Fred and you don't think that when I saw you knelt down beside him that I didn't think of myself when we found Shaggy dead just a couple hours ago? I know exactly how you feel Daph, and trust me it is horrible. The pain is still lingering inside me and I wish you didn't have to feel it…I know Daph…"

"No you don't! Quit saying that you do because you don't! You don't know how I feel…you don't understand how much I cared about him and all the things I wish I had said to him, all the things I should have said to him," Daphne yelled in tears.

"I cannot believe you!" Velma spat. "Weren't the two of us just sitting in my room earlier tonight talking about the things I never got to say to Shaggy, all the things I should have said to him like how I feel about him? And what did you say, how crying over him like I was, wasn't going to bring him back? Has all of that been erased from your mind?"  
"I…just shut up Velma! Just shut up! You will never understand so just acting like you do! I know my feelings not you! Don't you see that I don't need all this yelling and hurtful words coming from you and what I need is actually some comfort!? If you don't want to help then just leave me alone!" Daphne spat but after the words came out she immediately regretted them. No way did she want to be left alone…not in this house, not in this room, not with Fred.

"Fine," Velma huffed trying to stop herself from crying. "If that's what you want then fine, I will leave you to your crazy idea that I have been nothing but absolutely horrible to you and how no, I have no idea how sad, heartbroken, and miserable you are that Fred is dead. Fine, as you wish, Daphne."

Velma turned and stomped towards the doors and Daphne's face held an expression of shock. She didn't actually think that Velma would leave her, she didn't want Velma to leave her. Daphne wallowed up in tears and began crying even more not wanting to turn around and see Velma behind her.

"You want to know the last thing I said to Fred was?" Daphne lifted her head up to Velma's words and finally turned to look behind her. Velma was standing in the doorway ready to leave. "We argued…we argued really bad…I told him that he was idiot for coming here without a plan. I told him that he was being foolish and he was going to get us killed if he continued to think irrationally. I was ready to leave him behind and let him wander off to go get killed himself because he didn't care what happened to me or him, all he cared about was finding you. He told me that I was…" Velma paused because tears were wanting to escape and she wanted to keep them back, "he said I was a horrible best friend for being so selfish for only worrying about myself and that I kept making everything about me and Shaggy. He basically yelled at me in the same words and way that you just did, saying how I didn't understand how he was feeling and how it was different. Just before we split up he tried to give me a nice smile and form somewhat of an apology and I just shooed him off…you're not the only one who wished they had said something else."

Daphne was speechless. She didn't know what to say after that and she so desperately that she had to at least say something. She didn't know that Velma and Fred argued before they got here and how Fred said the same things to her that she just did. She didn't know that Velma was ready to let him die after all the mean things he said to her. She wouldn't have said anything if she knew about that and how much it effected Velma. Daphne noticed that Velma was stalled in the doorway giving her a chance to respond back before she walked away and that was the last thing Daphne wanted. She wanted to speak, but she felt something inside of her holding her voice back from being heard. She had to say something, anything.

"Velma…" she finally managed to choke out.

Velma sighed and relaxed her shoulders at the sound of her name. Tears fell from her chocolate brown eyes as she figured in her head what to do. She could ether turn around and accept Daphne with open arms to comfort her hurt friend, or she could walk away right now and not look back. Daphne hurt her bad, she was already stabbed with those same words from Fred and now hearing them from Daphne just tugged at heart even more. She needed her space, she needed time to calm herself down so she could focus better. Velma straightened herself up and made one of the hardest decisions she has had to make. She didn't look back behind her as she walked out of the room leaving a dead Fred and a distraught Daphne behind her.

Daphne's heart dropped as she watched Velma walk out of the room, silent and not even glancing back at her. The worst possible choice she thought Velma could make, she made. Velma left her, Velma left her alone in a state of heartbreak and distress with Fred lying dead on the ground beside her. Daphne completely lost it, her dark blue eyes flooded with hot tears that streamed down her face. Why was this happening to them? What did they do to deserve this? Why is this random guy toying with them so much? Why is he flirting with their death and not just killing them quickly all at once? All the torture is messing with Daphne's mind and she can feel herself on the brink of going mad. If this whole charade goes on much longer, she might just go insane with paranoia.


	10. Chapter 10

Part 10

Daphne sat on her knees, looking sadly beside her at Fred, tears still falling at a slower pace from her eyes. She felt alone, alone with no friends beside her to comfort her in this time of loss or to tell her that everything was going to be alright, that this was all just a bad dream…that's all it was, just a bad dream. None of this was actually real, she was just going to close her eyes and will wake up in her room in her bed with Scooby, Shaggy, and Fred all still alive and well and Velma still her best friend. She won't be sitting alone in a murderer's house next to Fred's dead body just waiting to be picked off next. Daphne wished so much that was how life still was, but no matter how much she tried she couldn't wake up from this horrible nightmare.

"Why can't this all be a bad dream? Why does this have to be real?" Daphne cried into her hands. She has been having a hard time accepting her reality but she knew she had no choice in the matter. She only wishes that Velma were beside her…

Daphne put her hands over her eyes not wanting to look down at Fred anymore, then suddenly felt something fly over her mouth. She gasped and her eyes flew open. She felt her arms pinned to her body and she moved her eyes down to see a large hand covering her mouth and an arm wrapped around hers keeping them tight to her chest. Daphne began to panic, trying to loosen herself from her bonds but the arm tightened its grip and she felt like crying even harder. No doubt in her mind she was in major trouble, she knew that she was completely helpless in the arms of this man and she couldn't escape no matter how hard she tried. She felt her body give up and her ears picked up an evil laugh right behind her that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. This is it…

"Now, now Daphne, remember what I told you what would happen if you try and escape," the killer's voice sent chills down her spine and her eyes forced themselves shut. "So what did you do? You went and escaped anyway, very, very bad, although I guess Velma did lend you a hand in that but we shouldn't point fingers now should we? Oh well, you always said you wanted to be with Fred no matter what."

Tears burst out of Daphne's eyes as she felt the arm that was wrapped around her arms loosen but the hand stayed right where it was. Daphne's heart was racing and beating so hard that it felt like it was going to fly right out of her chest. Suddenly, she felt a sharp object pierce through her back and out through her stomach. She let out a painful scream but the sound was muffled no matter how loud she tried to make herself. She could hear him snicker in her ear, the sound made her cry harder and she felt the sharp object being pulled out of her. Pain scourged through her body and her heart raced faster to more deathly rate. Her breathing became heavy out of pain and panic and her head was spinning in all directions. She felt herself being pulled around with the killer's hand being pulled off her mouth though she didn't feel the need to scream. She didn't feel like screaming for help was going to help, she honestly felt there was nothing she could do. He was too strong, he overpowered her to the highest degree and she was trapped in his domain not her own. She leaned her back against Fred, clutching her stomach tightly over the stab to try and stop the blood. She looked in front of her at the killer and he gave her a cocky smirk.

"Now I would love to stay and watch, but I have some unfinished business with your friend that seemed to not want to stay for the excitement," and he got up and left. He left Daphne there to die and honestly she expected no less.

Daphne turned her head to face Fred, her eyes continued to flood with tears. He was right, she wanted to be with Fred but not like this, not with him dead and her clinging on to her life. She never in a thousand years would have thought that their fearless leader could have been taken down so easily…he was strong, he overpowered almost every bad guy they have ever faced and now when it comes to the most, if not the most, dangerous villain they have faced he has been defeated and not able to protect them any longer. He's supposed to be the hero that saves the day, the guy that dies in the middle of everything. He's supposed to get up any minute now and ran to save a now defenseless Velma who was god knows where to stop her from dying and to also save Daphne herself from dying right next to him. Daphne suddenly felt a ting of anger come over her, she felt like screaming at someone beneath her tears.

"Why did you have to leave us?!" Daphne cried at Fred. "Why did you have to go and die right when we needed you the most…when I needed you the most…"

Daphne screamed into her free hand furious at everything and anything. She didn't know how to feel, what to feel, her emotions were just on a never ending rollercoaster of ups and downs. She would be crying one minute, engulfed in paranoia the next, and then mad about everything. Her emotions have caused her to be nothing but trouble the whole night. She hasn't been able to help with anything concerning this mystery making her feel like dead weight and now here she is waiting to die making the feeling go more towards the reality side than the imagination side. She hurt her best friend bad causing her to leave her behind and because of her the man she loves is now dead. Nothing but trouble…that's all she was…maybe she deserved to die for everything, but she knows that Velma doesn't deserve to die for this and now she probably will and that was all Daphne's fault too.

Velma ran downstairs, tears filling her eyes from the impact of the argument that just occurred. She has never been so hurt by someone's words in her life and to hear them come from her best friend made it all the more worse. She never would have thought that Daphne would purposely hurt her like that. To tell her that all she cares about is Shaggy and cares nothing about the others makes Velma mad and so sad at the same time. Sure she loves Shaggy in a romantic way, but she everyone in Mystery Inc. the same amount and she would never put one over the others in the priority stand point.

Velma turned into the combined kitchen and living room and plopped herself on a black leather sofa somewhere towards the middle. The couch was placed in front of an unlit fireplace with story high bookcases on both sides that were full on each shelf. Her knees barely missed a coffee table that had stacks upon stacks of papers and books on it. The guy obviously didn't throw much away, he needed the information that was on all of the papers for something but she hadn't the slightest clue and quite honestly she didn't really care. He had gotten what he wanted, he was successfully killing them all off with Scooby, Shaggy, and Fred already dead. All that is left now is her and Daphne and now Daphne doesn't want anything to do with Velma. She is all on her own, Daphne didn't try to stop her from leaving and Velma gave her time to no doubt, maybe that meant she didn't care about Velma anymore…no…that couldn't be true, and she knew it. Velma knows that Daphne wouldn't throw away their close friendship just like that, she loves Velma just as much Velma loves her. Velma had to go back up those stairs and apologize to her friend to get her back on her side even if that meant no apology back, she still had no choice.

Velma threw her hands down onto her knees and pushed herself up off the leather couch. She turned her body in the direction of the staircase she immediately froze when she saw a person standing in front of her dressed in all black. Velma's stomach sunk and her heart about stopped. She swallowed a huge gulp feeling her body become paralyzed with fear. To finally be face to face with him was frightening, nerve-racking for that matter, but she had to stay calm, maybe distract him long enough to get away and find Daphne. She had to at least try.

"Hello Velma," he had a smirk on his lips, looking very calm and confident.

"Oh, so we are conversing now?" Velma tried to make her own voice sound unshaken while on the inside she was about to jump out of her skin.

He lightly chuckled, "Well, I mean, I can go ahead and kill you now if that's what you want. It would be perfectly fine with me to just skip this whole thing wouldn't you agree?"

"No…no that's not what I want," Velma hesitated to keep calm. There was no way she could show her true fear in front of him, that would only let him have what he wants and she wasn't about to give in to that.

"Didn't think so, though now I'm kind of convincing myself of the option. With you being the only one left to get rid of, my job would finally be done."

"What do you mean?" Velma was confused, Daphne was still alive as well, and no way would he not want to kill her too.

"Well, let's see, Shaggy is dead, Fred is dead, and Daphne is dead so that only leaves you...you know Velma, you really shouldn't have walked out on Daphne like that what with her being in such a vulnerable state as she was," he cocked his head and his smirk turned more evil as he faced her. Velma's expression dropped, what had she done… "I had to go ahead and take the opportunity, it would have been bad if I didn't."

"No…" the realization hit her and she put her hands on her head looking down slightly.

"You know and I thought that you two were best friends. I thought it would hard to separate the two of you, but looks like it was easier than I thought. Such a shame it is really," he mockingly bit his lip and folded his hands together.

"No!" Velma yelled and pushed past the killer in the direction of the stairs. He let her push past him, for he didn't try to stop her but just watched her hurry to go save her friend. He actually found it quite amusing seeing her so rushed and panicked, though he knew that she would get to her in time. He stabbed Daphne only in a place that wouldn't kill her immediately but if left unattended for a period of time would kill her. It was part of his little game, to give the two girls a glimmer of hope when they make up and try to take care of things on their own like he expected them to do. He wasn't the slightest bit worried though, as soon as the time was right he would kill them both. Daphne would be easy, she was weak and couldn't defend herself, Velma on the other hand would be a little tougher. He had to strike at the right time, but knowing those two he would have plenty of time to come up with something clever…


	11. Chapter 11

Part 11

Velma raced up the stairs the only concern in her mind being Daphne. She knew she shouldn't have left her alone, she knew something would happen if she did. Was this her punishment for being a horrible friend and abandoning her when she should have been right by her side? That she was going to find her dead next her other friend who she already tore apart before he died? Velma started to cry softly but her brain wouldn't let her full on cry because she was in full fledge rescue mode. She had to get to Daphne before it was too late.

Velma raced past the open area off the landing, dodging the furniture in her way. She raced down the mini hallway with the multitude of doors until she got to the two double doors and slammed through them with force. Velma gasped when she saw Daphne sitting on the ground leaning against Fred with her hand clutching her side. Velma ran and fell onto the ground next to her dying friend and grabbed Daphne's free hand with her own.

"Oh my god Daphne! I'm so glad you're alive!" Velma sobbed and put her hand onto Daphne's shoulder.

"Velma," Daphne winced and squeezed Velma's hand tight.

"Daphne, I'm so sorry I left, I shouldn't have done that, I should have stayed with you…it's all my fault…"

"It's not your fault Velma, I should be the one apologizing," Daphne gave her a smile and Velma couldn't help but smile back. Daphne looked down at Fred's left hand and picked it up pushing it towards Velma. "Take his hand, you need to see something."

Velma looked at her strangely but took Fred's hand and as soon as she felt his palm beneath hers she could tell right away that something was different. She turned his hand over and gasped when she saw what it was. There was a number 2 carved in his palm, the blood now somewhat dried and stopped. Velma was confused.

"Look at the other one too," Daphne said seeing the look on Velma's face.

Velma reached over Fred's body and turned over his right hand. On this one there was a slanted slash mark and a number 4 carved into his palm, blood dried and stopped. 2/4? Maybe 2 out of 4? Velma thought carefully then she remembered the mark she found on Shaggy's arm just after he was killed. It was a 1 out 4, and now Fred has been marked with a 2 out of 4 on his hands, and then there was the picture with Shaggy crossed out back in his house. The killer wasn't only killing them off one at a time, he had a specific order he was going in. Velma has stopped him right in his tracks though because she found Daphne in time before she died and now according to the killer Velma was the only one left alive like he said…that could play out to be a huge advantage on their part.

"Velma, look at the walls too," Daphne winced trying to get her attention. It worked, Velma looked up from Daphne and at the walls behind them.

Her eyes widened when she saw and a gasp escaped her lips. Velma carefully studied the pictures that almost covered the walls behind two huge reclining chairs. She was shocked…and scared. It was pictures of her, pictures of the whole gang even playing out their everyday lives out and about and even in their own homes. Velma was sickened, to think that this guy was inside their homes watching them and taking pictures of everything they do disgusted her. The whole situation keeps getting more and more creepy as they go along. It all feels like one horrible nightmare after another, each one set on overdrive. Velma only for the time when everything returns back to normal…well, as normal as it can be.

Velma stood herself up and stepped over Fred in the direction of the pictures. As she put her back foot down, she felt her red Mary Jane shoe touch something that was not the carpet. She turned around and bent down to the floor to pick the object up. It was a picture, a pretty recent picture with two men, one very young probably very early 20s and another who looked older probably late 40s early 50s. What a random picture to have amongst all the Mystery Inc. photos and it seems as though Fred was looking at it before he was killed because she found it by his right hand like he dropped it. Why this picture though? It was just of two random men…but no, it obviously was much more than that otherwise Fred wouldn't have grabbed it. Fred doesn't just take long looks at something for the heck of it, there must be something to the picture she was missing. Velma studied the picture more carefully, looking at the faces closely seeing if she could link a memory to the faces. She came to the conclusion that the younger man was in fact their murderer, though she still couldn't put a finger on who the older man was. Maybe he could be a dad? An uncle? The two definitely resembled each other making it to where there was no way they were not related.

"Now where have I seen him before?" Velma asked herself. "Did we meet him in a mystery? Did we bust him in a mystery?" Then it hit her, yes, they did bust him in a mystery in the past, in their very first mystery in fact…the Black Knight…Mr. Wickles, the museum curator from a couple years back! That was him no doubt about it but why would there be a picture of the killer with the Black Knight unless…

"Can you believe all these pictures Velma?" Velma's thoughts were halted by Daphne's voice. She looked over and saw Daphne standing by the chairs still holding on to her side. Velma didn't even notice her get up and walk straight past her, she was too lost in her own thought. Velma quickly rushed to Daphne's side, worried about her physical well-being.

"Daphne, are you alright?" Velma asked putting her hand on Daphne's shoulder.

"No, not really, but I think I can stand up and move around a bit just fine," Daphne gave her a reassuring smile and Velma smiled back happy to see that Daphne wasn't shooing her away like she thought. She knew better than to think that Daphne would hate her so quickly and here was the proof.

"Hey Daph, you remember the Black Knight mystery at the museum right?"

"Um…yeah, the first one. Why do you ask?" Daphne questioned. Now was not really the time to be asking about pervious mysteries.

"Do you happen to know if he had a son?"

"Ummm…you know now that you say something I think I do remember someone claiming to be his son when the cops came. I think he said his name was Damien or something like that if I remember correctly. What does this have to do with anything Velma?" Daphne was genuinely confused. Such random questions to ask at a time like this. First about their very first mystery and then about if the villain had a son…it all makes no sense.

"With this, it most certainly has something to do with our situation. Look at this picture," Velma handed her the photo and Daphne took it examining the picture very closely.

"But this is just a picture of the killer with some old guy and…wait a minute…" Daphne suddenly noticed why Velma asked what she thought were random questions when they were in fact not random at all. "Is the man next to the killer the museum curator, um, oh gosh what was his name, Mr. Wickles! Is that him, the original Black Knight?"

"That is what I am thinking," Velma gave a sly smile. "Which means, if you are correct, the killer is his son, Damien Wickles."

"Yes, that makes sense," Daphne's eyes were still fixed on the picture. "They look so much alike that there is no way that they are not father and son."

"Exactly, that's got to be who he is," Velma felt a sense of success course through her. Finally they figured out who the killer was! Of course, who else would hold a grudge against them if not the son of one of their most famous villains. All the pieces were finally starting to come together in Velma's mental clue book, motives and reasons, everything was fitting perfectly to the puzzle. Damien must want revenge on Mystery Inc. for putting his dad in jail, but why he is going as far as killing them is a complete mystery still. Maybe he really was just mentally insane or maybe he actually hated them that much to go as far as killing them, but who really knows why. There was only one way to find out, this was it, time to stop playing games and end this nightmare.

"We need to set a trap," the words felt weird coming out of Velma's mouth. Only Fred ever said that particular sentence…

"Are you crazy Velma?!" Daphne protested. "Shouldn't we call the cops now that we are safe for the moment and we know who he is?"

"No, he would figure out if we called them. He has trackers on our phones and if we called then that might get us into more trouble. We have to catch him ourselves," Velma pointed out, completely serious about her decision.

"Catch him ourselves?" Daphne did not like the idea one bit. It just reeked of trouble and of the wrong thing to do.

"Yes Daphne, we could set a trap and catch him and then we could call the police when we have him safely restrained. It's the best idea that I can think to do."

"I…I guess you're right, if he has trackers on our phones then he probably would get alarmed if we called someone," Daphne gave into Velma's logic.

Velma gave her a friendly smile, "Good, I'm glad you agree with me."

"So what did you have in mind we do then for this trap?"

"Well what I could come up with is that since he thinks that I am the last one left alive, I will be bait and lure him into the living room where you can see the second floor. You will be upstairs on the balcony waiting to drop a blanket on him once he passes by. Once he caught under the blanket I will hold him down and you will run into the room where I found you and grab the rope you were bound with then we will tie him up. After he is restrained we will call the police and we can finally be done with this horrendous nightmare," Velma explained as best she could, though she knows that she is no Fred when it comes to making traps or making them seem like good ones. She had to make a trap only once before when Fred got kidnapped by a vampire they were up against. Shaggy and Scooby were off chasing a bat they thought was Fred which left her and Daphne to catch the vampire. Let's just say one thing lead to another and if Fred hadn't jumped out of the roof in time Daphne would have been taken by the vampire. Velma was not too confident her trap knowledge but she also knows that now is not the time to be second guessing herself. This was the only plan they had and they had no option but for it to work.

"Alright…are you sure you want to do this Velma?" Daphne asked not too sure about the plan.

"Even if I'm not, it's the only thing we got so it has to work," Velma sounded dazed."

"Okay, you're right, let's do this."  
"Alright, then let's not waste any more time and get ready," Velma said making her way out of the room.

Velma and Daphne stood on the second floor balcony overlooking the living room. Daphne had a blanket in her hands ready to get into position and Velma went over the plan once more with her before she turned around to head down the stairs.

"Velma wait!" Daphne called out. Velma turned around to look at her and Daphne sprang forward, dropping the blanket and pulled Velma into a hug. Velma was caught off guard but quickly accepted the hug and the two girls held onto each other tightly.

"Please be careful, I don't want to lose you too," Daphne said into Velma's hair.

"I promise, you will not lose me," Velma said meaning those words. She couldn't die now, she couldn't leave Daphne all alone. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I will ever be," Daphne took in a breath and moved into position. Velma made her way downstairs ready to face the killer for the last time.


	12. Chapter 12

Part 12

Velma walked through the downstairs area, her stomach in knots the whole time and her nerves were sky rocket high. A part of her really wanted to bolt out the door right now and not spend time trying to find him. She had this sinking feeling that she wouldn't be as lucky as last time when she finds him. Last time he wanted to talk, but this time he might skip the words and not hesitate to go ahead and stick a knife through her. The thought made her sweat from fear and she knows that she shouldn't be working herself up so much right now, it might distract her from the task at hand and make give up this whole operation and that was not an option. She must continue on and find this guy…hopefully everything works out…

Velma walked all through every room in the first floor but it felt like everywhere she went she was getting further and further away from him. She couldn't seem to find him anywhere and she was starting to get frustrated. It seems that whenever they didn't want to find him he was always right there and now the one time she wanted him to show he was nowhere to be found. At the same time though, she also felt that he was always right behind her, watching her, waiting to strike at the right moment when she least expects it. Velma needs to calm herself down and focus. She would know for a fact if he intended to do just that, something was wrong. None of this was right, something felt very wrong and Velma decided to end her search and head back towards Daphne to talk about what to do now. She walked into the living room and looked up to see her friend at the top of the balcony patiently waiting for her cue.

"Did you find him yet Velma?" Daphne asked unammused by all the waiting.

"No, I haven't. I honestly have no idea where he is," Velma admitted crossing her arms. "It's like he has just disappeared!"

"He couldn't have just disappeared! This is his house, why would he leave us here alone?"

"I have no idea, but I have looked everywhere for him and he is nowhere to be found. Something is not right about this and I'm staring to get a bad feeling about it."

Daphne sighed, "Alright, what do you want to do now?"

"I don't know, I guess just go ahead and come down here and we will discuss what the next best option for us is," Velma rubbed her temple.

"Alright, I'll head down." Just as Daphne spoke, Velma looked up and her eyes spotted someone standing behind Daphne. Velma gasped and her eyes became wide.

"Daphne watch out!" Velma yelled panicked. Before Daphne even had a chance to fully turn around she felt herself being pulled away from the balcony. Her heart began to race.

"Velma!" she yelled out before she completely disappeared from Velma's line of sight.

Velma's heart began to race and she immediately bolted for the staircase. She had to get to Daphne in time before it was too late, before she found her dead. How could she be so stupid! She should have known that he would know what they were planning and she should have known that he would have something planned to stop it from happening. He has been one step ahead of them this whole night and as soon as she couldn't find him downstairs she should have known that he was upstairs. This must have been his plan all along…she was right, he was watching them, waiting to make his move when the moment was right, though not on her but on Daphne. Why didn't she see it before? He knew Daphne wasn't dead yet because he didn't mark her like he did Fred and Shaggy. Velma should have picked up on that, she was too happy to see Daphne alive to catch that small little detail. Amazing…genius…he knew that when she found Daphne that she would be too distracted to notice and they would play everything out like he wanted. He gave them that last glimmer of hope only to rip it away again. He was one twisted person and needed to be put away as soon as possible.

Velma raced up the stairs calling out Daphne's name on the steps hoping to hear some type of response but her heart was beating too fast and her breathing was too heavy that she wouldn't be able to hear anything if Daphne actually did respond. Her adrenaline was pumping and her nerves were running haywire. Velma reached the top of the landing and turned to see Damien holding Daphne tightly with a knife to her throat. Velma froze in place and studied him closely. His face was different from when she saw him a few minutes ago. When she met him, he looked very suave, confident, and even cocky, now he looked truly mad, his eyes had a crazy look to them and face had an expression on it that would make one think he was close to going over the edge. She tried to keep a straight face as she looked at him.

"Okay, let's just calm down Damien," Velma held her hands out as she spoke.

He gave her a chuckle, "Ah, I knew you would figure it out. You truly are the smart one Velma, never doubted that for a minute."

"Please, you don't have to do this," Velma tried to coax him down. "We can talk about it, just let Daphne go a-."

"Really? You really think I want to sit here and talk to you? You really think I am going to fall for the oldest trick in the book? I know what you are trying to do and very clever, it's what most people would do in your situation so I don't blame you for trying." Velma was caught was off guard. She didn't know what to do now…maybe with the right words her plan would still work and she could get Daphne away from him.

"Look Damien, I'm sorry about your dad," Velma finally said. "I mean, there was nothing we could really do for him."

"You could have not sent him to jail!" he yelled back at her. "He was the only family I had left and he was great to me, never could have asked for a better father. You and your gang took him away from me and it's only fair that I return the favor."

"You don't have to continue doing this! You can find a better way to cope with your anger! Listen, I'm sorry we put him in jail, we were just doing the job we were hired to do and nothing else. We can't control what happens to him after we catch him and that's the truth," Velma paused thinking of what to say next. "How about I make you a deal?"

Damien perked his head up at the statement and shrugged, "Alright, I'll humor you, what did you have in mind?"

"I feel bad for you, I really do, but me feeling bad isn't going to keep you out of jail and keep you from suffering the same fate as your dad. You let me and Daphne go free and I promise that we will not go to the police about this. They will never know that you are the one who killed Shaggy and Scooby or Fred. We will say that Fred went away for personal reasons and if they ask about you I will tell them that you have an alibi and you are in the clear. They will never find out about you," Velma offered and Daphne shot her a look that disapproved of what she said but she was open to anything that got the blade away from her neck. "Do we have a deal?"

"Ha, you really think I am going to believe that you won't go to the police the first chance you get?" Damien snickered at her words.

"I give you my word that we won't," Velma said straight faced although she was completely nervous because he was right, she was lying.

"Hmm…you know as tempting as that sounds your pities come too late Velma. I'm already half way done with the job so I might as well go ahead and finish my work now," he flashed her an evil smile and Daphne felt like crying. She was about to die.

Before Velma could say anything in retaliation, she saw a figure come from behind Daphne and Damien and they looked to be holding some sort of bat. Velma watched as the person flung the bat down onto Damien's head and he fell hard to the ground. Velma watched him fall and looked back up to see who their mysterious savior was. Her eyes lit up with pure shock and also extreme joy when she made out the face. How was that even possible...?

Daphne felt Damien's hold on her loosen and she looked at him only to see him fall on the ground. She was confused and looked up at Velma who she was shocked to see her looking behind her with a small smile. Daphne turned around and her face let up with happiness and her eyes wallowed up tears. She brought her hands up to her mouth and gasped into them. She has never been so joyous in her life.

"Oh my god…Freddie!" Daphne cried and she jumped into the blonde's arms. Fred wrapped his arms around her tightly so happy to have her in his arms again, so happy that she was alive. "I thought you were dead! I thought I had lost you forever! I'm so happy you are alive!"

"Not as happy as I am to see you alive, Daph. I was so worried about you, and besides, I'm Fred Jones, leader of Mystery Inc., you can't take me down that easily," Fred tried to be lighthearted but he still couldn't stop the tears from escaping his bright blue eyes when a smile appeared on his face.

"Of course not," Daphne chuckled and wiped away a tear. "Please just don't scare me like that again…I can't ever lose you…"

"Don't worry, you will never lose me again Daphne," Fred took hold of her hands and looked straight into her eyes.

"Oh Freddie, your hands," Daphne could feel the scars on his palms.

"Oh don't worry about that, it's just a scratch is all," Fred cocked a smile and then Daphne pulled him back into a hug which he gladly accepted.

Velma looked at the both of them, a smile appeared on her face at the love and happiness they shared. She was extremely happy that Fred was alive and that the agreement they had wasn't truly the last thing she said to him. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if that was how she said goodbye. Now there he is standing right in front of her alive and only minorly hurt which was great. Surprisingly, Velma is most happy that Fred and Daphne were now back together again. When she looked at them she saw herself with Shaggy and she was happy that her best friend didn't have to go through the pain she has gone through. It is the worst pain she has ever felt and she would not wish it upon these two. Everything was working out at last.

Fred noticed Velma looking at him and Daphne and he gave her a warm smile. Even after everything he couldn't be mad at her for the moment, he was so happy to see her alive and well also. Velma gave him a warm smile in return and Fred motioned for her to come join him and Daphne in the hug. Velma lightly smiled and joined in with her two friends.

"I'm glad to have you back Fred," Velma said wrapping her arms around Fred and Daphne.

"Glad to see you are okay Velmster," Fred answered using the nickname he gave her.

Velma giggled and the three remaining Mystery Inc. members enjoyed their moment of reunion but they only got to enjoy it for no more than a minute before suddenly Velma felt something go into her back. She let out a gasp as she went limp in Fred and Daphne's arms. She felt her vision begin to fade as her body fell completely lifeless onto the ground and she was dead. Fred and Daphne looked up and saw Damien no longer unconscious on the floor but standing over Velma with the knife in her back. Daphne gasped in terror and Fred's eyes were wide as Damien pulled the knife out of Velma and looked up at the two with angry eyes and a crooked smile.

"Run…" Damien's voice was low and threating.


	13. READ BEFORE READING THE ENDING!

**READ THIS BEFORE READING THE END OF THE STORY!**

Thanks all of you first of all for reading the story and reviewing! I have had a great time writing this story and I'm glad ya'll have enjoyed it just as much as I have :) A few things before the ending...

**1. There are TWO endings to this story. Upon my original ending I had people requesting and giving me ideas for a second one and I liked it so I wrote another ending. What I want ya'll to do is randomly pick Ending 1 or Ending 2 at random and then read your selected ending and epilogue. After you read your picked ending you can go back and read the one you didnt chose and then tell me which one you like better just for my personal record :)**

**2. Me and some of friends will be making a movie version of this story and we will be filming it July 7-12 :) Tell me if you are excited about this or could careless it doesnt matter to me I'm doing it because I want too :) I will post the link to the movie when I am finished editing it **

**3. Just if you want, here is the link to a previous scooby doo video we made a year ago that is just a cute and fun one :) see? I dont hate the gang ;) watch?v=vv0WdamP3P4 this is my personal channel that i will post the movie on by the way **

Thanks so much again for reading the story and if you have any questions or want updates on video things fill free to PM me :) Enjoy the ending guys!


	14. Ending 1

Ending 1

Fred immediately latched onto Daphne's wrist and pulled her in the direction of the small hallway. Damien snickered as he watched them run and slowly began to follow them with the knife dangling by his side. Fred and Daphne ran through the back, the whole time Fred dragging Daphne by her wrist and Daphne looking behind them checking how close death was approaching and she would get worried when she saw him not too far behind. Both Fred and Daphne's hearts were racing and Fred's adrenaline was pumping while Daphne was scared out of her wits. Fred pulled Daphne into the large double doored room and let go of her closing the doors behind them.

"Daphne, hold the doors shut while I try and look for something to fight this guy with," Fred told her.

"Alright, but hurry Fred!" Daphne answered back and she went to block the doors with her body.

Fred frantically looked around the room for something to use while he glanced back at Daphne every now and then to make sure she was okay. Daphne felt Damien begin to beat against the doors and her nerves were sky rocketing. He was pretty strong and she doesn't know how long she can hold up against him.

"Fred! Hurry!" Daphne's voice was desperate.

"Fred, Daphne, open up the door," Damien said through the door in a sing-songy creepy tone, like something out of a horror movie.

"Just a little longer Daphne!" Fred called back very nervous, he still could not find anything!

Fred kept looking around and looking around some more but nothing was really jumping out at him. He had to think fast, Daphne was having a harder time keeping the door closed. Damien was going at it pretty hard from what it sounded like and Daphne would not be able to hold on much longer. He had to be quick. Fred rushed over to a small area behind the doors to a bar counter and knelt down behind it looking for something to use. Suddenly he heard the doors slam open and Daphne screamed out his name.

"Daphne!" he yelled out and ran to the doors.

He looked and saw the doors wide open but neither Daphne nor Damien was in the doorway. He jerked his head towards the inside of the room and then he saw them. There was Damien holding Daphne in his arms and he had his knife at her throat. Fred's heart dropped and his blood boiled. This time he couldn't sneak up on him and this time one false move could equal her death. Fred clenched his fists together so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"Let. Her. Go." Fred's voice was low and full of rage.

"You should stayed dead Fred, you should not magically come back alive," Damien stared Fred down, trying to be the bigger threat. He truthfully could not believe that Fred was alive, he thought that he had thoroughly taken care of him. He needed to take Fred out sneakily because he knows that Fred is quite bigger than him and he could probably win a fight so he didn't want to take him head on but now it looks like he has no choice. At least he has the upper hand at the moment and more on the good side of things at least Fred will be the last one to kill.

"Looks like now your girlfriend will have to die for you," Damien smirked and Daphne's heart was racing in fear.

"No!" Fred shouted but before he could move a step Damien ran his knife across Daphne's neck, slitting her throat. Daphne screamed out in pain and fell hard onto the ground, immediately dead.

"Daphne!" Fred shouted. He fell onto his knees and his eyes burst into tears. The one thing he didn't want to happen more than anything happened, the person he wanted to protect the most was just killed right in front of him. The love of his life now dead, all his friends…his gang…all dead, he is all alone…he is completely enraged and furious. Fred looked up, his face in a complete rage, his mouth was snarled, and his fists were in a ball.

"I'll kill you, you sick son of a bitch!" Fred snarled and leaped forward towards Damien and Damien pounced on Fred as well.

Fred and Damien wrestled on the floor, throwing each other around and hitting each other with great force. Fred's fighting was out of anger and rage while Damien was fighting to try and get the upper hand and kill Fred easily but that was aiming out to be quite a challenge. They fought and fought until Damien finally got Fred pinned down and lifted the blade ready to plunge it right into Fred's heart. Fred got a clear shot to Damien's legs and tripped him, throwing him to the ground and knocking the knife out of his hands. Damien struggled to his feet and get his weapon back but Fred grabbed onto him and pinned him down with the knife in his hands holding it over Damien's chest.

Damien let out a demented chuckle, "Well, looks like you got me Fred, go ahead, kill me…"

"This is for Velma," Fred stabbed him in the chest and Damien painfully groaned. "This is for Scooby," another stab. "This is for Shaggy," another stab. "And this…this is for Daphne," this time Fred plunged the blade into Damien's heart killing him in seconds.

Fred pulled the knife out of Damien and slowly stood up staring him down. His hands were shaking and he dropped the knife backing away. Fred quickly turned to see Daphne dead on the floor and ran towards her. He bent down onto his knees and picked her up into his arms. He held her close and buried his head into her bright red hair letting the tears pour from his eyes. He kept saying how he was so sorry that he failed her and how he should have always been by her side to protect her from this very fate. He cried and cried until finally calming down enough to phone the police. It was at last all over…


	15. Ending 1 Epilogue

Ending 1 – Epilogue

3 Days Later…

Fred sat in the back of the Mystery Machine scanning through old pictures of the gang. Looking at the frozen memories made his eyes water with salty tears. All the photos held special places in his heart and he couldn't cope with the fact that he would never see any of these people again. Nothing has been the same since Fred had killed Mystery Inc.'s murderer, Damien Wickles. His heart was completely broken, nothing was hardly left of it now and looking at the photos only reminded him painfully of that fact. There were some of Shaggy and Scooby eating a crazy amount of food like they always did with Velma looking disgusted as she witnessed it. Some were of Daphne and Velma enjoying their girl time together and talking about everything imaginable. Some pictures of Velma and Shaggy together with Velma having a permanent blush on her face as she was so close to him and Shaggy having the same look at times when he looked at her. The two were obviously in love and Fred only wishes for Shaggy's sake that one of them had the guts to say something. Some more were of Scooby and Shaggy being best buddies, then there was the ones of him and Daphne…Fred lost it when he saw these. Seeing all the captured moments of them together tugged at his heart strings. He smile was beautiful and her face would be captured perfectly while Fred looked goofy and dumbfounded. She always had that way about her to make him weak at the knees whenever she gave him that smile and how Fred longed to see it in person and not on a piece of glossy paper. He thinks about how he will never be able to speak to her, to see her, to hold her ever again and he doesn't know if he can live with that. Heck, he doesn't know if he can live without seeing any of them ever again, right by his side during the hard times. That was his gang, his best friends, and he failed them as their leader. Fred doesn't know if he can ever live with that guilt eating the inside of him and he realizes that no, he can't. Fred glanced beside him at the little handgun he had always kept in the Mystery Machine just in case of an emergency. He leaned over and picked it up with a shaking hand pulling up to his head. He didn't hesitate as he put his finger on the trigger and pulled it…the final member of Mystery Inc. was now dead.


	16. Ending 2

Ending 2

Fred immediately latched onto Daphne's wrist and pulled her in the direction of the small hallway. Damien snickered as he watched them run and slowly began to follow them with the knife dangling by his side. Fred and Daphne ran through the back, the whole time Fred dragging Daphne by her wrist and Daphne looking behind them checking how close death was approaching and she would get worried when she saw him not too far behind. Both Fred and Daphne's hearts were racing and Fred's adrenaline was pumping while Daphne was scared out of her wits. Fred pulled Daphne into the large double doored room and let go of her closing the doors behind them.

"Daphne, hold the doors shut while I try and look for something to fight this guy with," Fred told her.

"Alright, but hurry Fred!" Daphne answered back and she went to block the doors with her body.

Fred frantically looked around the room for something to use while he glanced back at Daphne every now and then to make sure she was okay. Daphne felt Damien begin to beat against the doors and her nerves were sky rocketing. He was pretty strong and she doesn't know how long she can hold up against him.

"Fred! Hurry!" Daphne's voice was desperate.

"Fred, Daphne, open up the door," Damien said through the door in a sing-songy creepy tone, like something out of a horror movie.

"Just a little longer Daphne!" Fred called back very nervous, he still could not find anything!

Fred kept looking around and looking around some more but nothing was really jumping out at him. He had to think fast, Daphne was having a harder time keeping the door closed. Damien was going at it pretty hard from what it sounded like and Daphne would not be able to hold on much longer. He had to be quick. Fred rushed over to a small area behind the doors to a bar counter and knelt down behind it looking for something to use. Fred gave up for he couldn't find anything and began to stand himself up. Suddenly he heard the doors slam open and Daphne screamed out his name.

"Daphne!" he called out turning the corner to the doors.

He looked and saw Daphne lying on the ground and Damien was standing by her feet, knife in hand ready to bring it down onto her. Fred moved to stand by her head and he and Damien were stuck in a dead eye lock. Daphne looked back and forth between the two men, her heart pounding and her hands shaking violently. Fred and Damien both did not move a single muscle standing before each other. Fred had a look of anger in his face while Damien's was more sly and his lips had a crooked smile formed upon them. Neither wanted to make the first move while at the same time both wanted to jump forward and kill each other so badly. Finally Daphne broke the still silence and scurried behind Fred hiding herself as best she could.

"Well, here we are Fred," Damien said in his cocky tone.

"You will pay for what you have done to my friends!" Fred snapped in no mood to play any more games.

"Now don't you think that is a little harsh coming from you? I guess not really though, seeing as how you were just as harsh to Velma before you two got here," Fred's eyes widen, his faced showed a hurt shock. "You know, if it were me, I would feel absolutely horrible if that was the last thing I told her before she died right in front of me…at least she knew how you really felt about her."

"No…no it's not what you think! That's not what happened! That's not how I feel about her!" Fred shouted back.

"Really? Hmm certainly sounded like that was what it was," Damien smirked. "And come to think of it really, it is basically your fault why Velma is dead…"  
"It was not my fault!" Fred snarled.

"Really now? You didn't even consider for one minute that you might not have hit me hard enough to completely knock me out? You just had to enjoy your little moment leaving poor Velma out in the open like that…very, very bad."

Fred couldn't stand any of his taunting anymore, "I'll kill you, you sick son of a bitch!"

Fred jumped forward onto Damien, knocking him to the ground and Daphne gasped. She watched as the two men fought with each other on the ground, her eyes simultaneously following the knife in Damien's hand and Fred himself. Fred was fighting out of anger and rage while Damien was trying to get the upper hand to kill Fred quickly. He was really not happy that Fred was still alive. He chose to kill Fred sneakily because he knows that Fred is significantly stronger than he is and could most likely win a fight. Taking Fred head on was the last thing Damien wanted to do but now it seems that he has no choice.

Fred and Damien continued to wrestle on the ground, each of them trying to get the upper hand over the other. Finally Damien got Fred pinned to the ground and he held the blade above him ready to sick it into his heart. Fred saw the chance to go right for Damien's legs and tripped him making him lose grip of the knife and fall to the ground. Damien struggled to get to his feet and get his weapon back but Fred grabbed him and got on top of him pinning him down. Fred reached for the knife beside him and picked it up ready to attack.

Damien chuckled a demented chuckle, "Well, looks like you got me Fred, go ahead, kill me…"

"If that is what you want," Fred's voice was dark as he spoke.

"Oooo, that's dark Fred. Looks like I'm not the only evil one here," Damien half smiled.

Fred didn't respond back but just struck the blade straight into Damien's heart. Damien gasped for air but in seconds he was dead. Fred pulled the knife out of Damien's chest and threw it on the ground beside them. He pulled himself up and looked to see Daphne staring at them, her expression worried and a little scared after she heard Fred speak to Damien. Fred stood up, he walked over to her and pulled her into his arms. Some tears escaped from his eyes as he put his head onto her shoulder. Daphne too began to slightly cry, relieved that this time Fred was still alive and dead. He was right here…with her.

"Is it over?" Daphne knew the answer to the question but she wanted to hear the words come from Fred.

"Yeah Daph, it's all over…"


	17. Ending 2 Epilogue

Ending 2 – Epilogue

3 Months Later…

The wind was brisk from the slight cold breeze blowing in the mid-day air as Fred and Daphne stood in a graveyard dressed in all black. They looked down at three headstones with the names Velma Dace Dinkley, Norville "Shaggy" Rogers, and Scoobert Doo Rogers. Nothing has been the same since Fred had killed Mystery Inc.'s murderer, Damien Wickles, and the police came to get the story from him and Daphne. They didn't charge Fred for killing Damien for they said he died out of self-defense. Both teens were relieved they were not getting into trouble and headed to Fred's house to sit the rest of the night, holding onto each other and crying from the loss of their three friends. Now here they are, standing before their dead friends, finally able to have a proper mourning. Fred and Daphne held onto each other as they looked at the graves. They remembered all the fun times they all had together and all the mysteries they solved as one of the most famous mystery solving groups. Never again would they be able to do that, their very last mystery was the death of half of them. Fred and Daphne haven't tried to solve another mystery since that night, even though they have been asked to. They are just happy to still have each other but that will never mask the pain they feel because of the death of Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby Doo.


End file.
